Heavy rains and floods in Saurashtra region of Gujarat have not only affected the lives of locals but also ended up disrupting the plans of Veermata Jijabai Bhosale (VJB) Udyan and Zoo at Byculla, who were planning on bringing two pairs of captive lions from the Sakkarbaug Zoo at Junagadh in first week of August.
Top BMC officials stated that as of now they have plans to send the team to Gujarat only in the last week of August or early September and are in touch with the team from Sakkarbaug zoo. The delay will also mean that Mumbaikars will have to wait till November end or even December to view the lions, as even after the lions are brought to the Byculla zoo they will have to spend a mandatory period of three months in quarantine.
According to senior officials from Byculla zoo it was in June that the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) cleared the proposal sent by Mumbai zoo for exchange of lions. In the same month itself a function was also organised in Sasan Gir where Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani symbolically handed over of transfer certificates of the captive lions. "We had plans to get the lions in July itself but since mid July it has been constantly raining very heavily in both Maharashtra as well as Gujarat leaving us with no options but to constantly postpone our travel plans," said a senior zoo official.
Another official added that while rainy as well as winter seasons are mostly preferred for shifting animals due to pleasant weather conditions, which reduces their travel stress they cannot take risk of driving in very heavy rains.
"There has been constant spells of heavy rains since July, which have resulted in flooding too. First Mumbai and its northern areas were battered by rains and since July end Saurashtra has been facing floods hence we could not even think of sending our team," said the official.
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