February 6, 2009 1:47:08 am
Visitors to the Chhatbir Zoological Park were in for a treat on Thursday. They got to see Rajbir,a male elephant born at the zoo about one and a half years ago,who was put on display for the first time.
Rajbir,who was seen playing with his mother the whole day,became the centre of attraction for the visitors,especially the children. The zoo authorities had made special arrangements to capture Rajbirs movements through video recording.
Rajbir,the second baby elephant born at Chhatbir,was reunited with his mother,Hema,and father,Rajmangal,after a long time. Hema had first given birth to a female elephant in mid 2002,who was named Seema. But she died in 2005 due to a stomach ailment. Rajbir was born in 2007 and had been kept separately from the parents ever since.
Seema and Rajbir are the only two elephants to have been born in the zoo till date.
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After Mysore,Chhatbir is the only zoo in India where elephant breeding is done. According to the zoo authorities,the breeding of elephants is often dangerous because the mother usually gets violent after delivery and it becomes very difficult to control her.
Chhatbir has a total of five elephants four females and one male at present. They are handled by five caretakers.
Zoo director Dharmender Sharma told Newsline that Rajbir was sent to Indore after birth for special training and now he would be kept with the other elephants at the zoo.
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