Delhi Zoo adds rhino, tiger and pied hornbills

New Delhi: A rhinoceros, a Bengal tiger and a pair of pied hornbills were brought to the Delhi Zoo on Saturday as part of an exchange programme with Assam, officials said.

They will be ready for public exhibition at Delhi's National Zoological Park -- commonly called Delhi Zoo -- after a 21-day quarantine, they said.

Confirming the animals' arrival from Assam State Zoo-cum Botanical Garden, Zoo Director Sanjeet Kumar told PTI, "A male tiger, a male rhino, and a pair of pied hornbills arrived this morning. After a veterinary examination, all have been placed in quarantine." The nine-member team that was tasked with bringing the tiger named Sultan and rhino named Dharmendra left Assam on September 11 and arrived on the Saturday.

"The zoo team departed for Assam in two trucks on September 4 to bring new animals to our zoo," a Delhi Zoo official told PTI.

"We used two trucks to minimise stress on the animals. Separate trucks were assigned for the tiger and rhino to avoid adding any additional strain during travel as travel itself is a major source of stress," range officer Saurabh Vashisht, who led the team, told PTI.

"We had two female rhinos, and after long efforts, we finally made it happen. Now we have a pair, and we hope they will reproduce in the future," Vashisht said, noting that senior authorities had been working for a long time to bring these animals to the zoo.

The Bengal tiger, named Sultan, and the male rhinoceros, named Dharmendra, will soon join the zoo's collection of majestic wildlife, he said.

"After a 21-day quarantine, they will be ready for public display," he added.

This is the first exchange in several years, as the programme had been repeatedly postponed due to extreme temperature fluctuations and unfavourable weather conditions, according to officials.

The new additions will help with conservation and breeding activities, they said.