Vizag zoo’s new arrivals draw praise from Deputy Chief Minister

Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan on Tuesday (August 25, 2026) congratulated the Forest Department and the staff of the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) in Visakhapatnam for a season of successful births at the facility.The Minister, who also holds the Environment, Forests, and Science and Technology portfolio, described the arrival of 128 animals and birds across 12 species as heartening news and said the scientific conservation and breeding programmes run by the Forest Department had yielded good results.He singled out the artificial incubation of the Red Jungle Fowl and Blue-gold Macaw chicks for particular mention, calling it noteworthy, and thanked the forest officials, zoo staff, and veterinary team involved in the effort. Protecting a species, he said, was ultimately about protecting the country’s natural wealth, and he hoped the State would build on the achievement using science and technology to pass on its biodiversity to future generations.The Minister’s praise comes in the wake of a recent announcement by the park’s curator, G. Mangamma, listing the recent births: 40 star tortoises, 35 wild boars, 20 spotted deer, 10 red jungle fowls, seven Indian peafowls, five sambar deer, three striped hyena cubs, two each of Indian porcupines, grey pelicans, and marmosets, one bison, and one blue-gold macaw.Two of the arrivals were the result of artificial incubation rather than natural rearing. The Red Jungle Fowl (Gallus gallus), a species native to the forests of South and Southeast Asia, had its eggs monitored for about 21 days under conditions replicating the warmth and humidity a parent bird would normally provide, resulting in 10 healthy chicks. A Blue-gold Macaw egg was incubated separately, with temperature maintained between 37°C and 38°C and humidity between 45 and 70 per cent, conditions the park’s veterinary team described as essential for healthy embryonic development. The macaw chick is currently being hand-reared, with its growth, nutrition and health tracked closely.Elsewhere in the park, a striped hyena named Divya gave birth to three cubs. The cubs have since emerged from their den and are being cared for by their mother, with the veterinary team and animal keepers continuing to monitor both. The striped hyena (Hyaena hyaena) is listed as “Near Threatened” on the IUCN Red List and is considered an important scavenger species for the ecological balance it helps maintain in forest habitats.The birth of a marmoset, among the smallest primates in the world, was cited by the park as an indicator of its ability to breed species that require precise regulation of temperature, stable social grouping and specialised diet.Ms. Mangamma attributed the outcomes to the veterinary team’s work and said the park would continue its conservation breeding initiatives while maintaining a naturalistic habitat for its animals. The new arrivals, she added, are now visible to visitors under continued supervision. Published - August 25, 2026 07:42 pm IST