Ring-tailed lemurs at the Mysuru zoo on Tuesday. A new spacious enclosure was built under CSR funds for housing the species.
| Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram

Ringed-tailed lemurs have got a new enclosure at the Mysuru zoo as the facility constructed under the CSR funds by the Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL), Mysuru was inaugurated on Tuesday. It was built at a cost of ₹75 lakh.

The previous enclosure for lemurs was small and could not accommodate the recently-acquired lemurs from the Czech Republic. The BRBNMPL agreed to build the enclosure which was formally inaugurated by the officials in the presence of Zoo Authority of Karnataka and zoo officials.

Senior General Manager of BRBNPL Harshakumar Manral inaugurated the facility. ZAK Member Secretary B.P. Ravi and Zoo Executive Director Ajit Kulkarni were present.

Mr. Kulkarni said lemurs that were acquired from the Czech Republic had been in quarantine since last year. “Though the enclosure was ready a month ago, it was formally inaugurated on Tuesday. The lemurs were released into the new facility for conditioning a few days ago. The zoo has seven lemurs, including the five that were acquired from the foreign zoo under an animal exchange programme,” he told The Hindu.

The lemurs were going to be the new attraction for visitors at the zoo. All seven would be displayed in rotations, he added.

Two male and three female ring-tailed lemurs and two female and one male wallabies had been acquired under the animal exchange programme with the Czech zoo. In return, the Czech zoo has asked for a pair of wild dogs and a pair of wolves. This was the first international animal exchange of Mysuru zoo last year.

The lemurs that the zoo had were getting aged and not breeding. Keeping the captive breeding in focus and also to add a new bloodline, the young lemurs were sought and the Czech zoo agreed. Ring-tailed lemur, a rare species, is found in Madagascar.

The Mysuru zoo was in touch with many other foreign zoos in connection with animal exchanges. It is also in touch with corporate bodies and industries on getting CSR funds for constructing modern enclosures which play a major role in striking deals with the international zoos for exchanges as foreign zoos verify infrastructure before exchanging their animals.