Sundari has new friends

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sundari is not alone any more; the 11-month-old gaur at the city zoo now has two more friends to keep her company. Two gaurs - one male and a female - arrived in the city zoo from Mysore zoo the other day. Sushma and Prithvi, nearly two years old, had their first public outing on Wednesday during the launch of many new projects by the Museum and Zoo Department.  According to the zoo officials, Sundari was found at the Bonakkad estate in an abandoned state when she was less than a month old. She was handed over to the city zoo by the Forest Department. The new animals were brought to the city zoo on August 28 through the mutual exchange of a pair of African Cape Buffalos. Gaur, an endangered animal of the cattle species, is in the Schedule I of the Red List. The animal often reproduces at an age of four or five. The lifespan of the animal is 22 years. According to the zoo officials, besides the birds, the two new inmates are the first of the animals to be brought to the zoo this financial year. The zoo now has around 600 animals, which constitute 105 species. Thirty-one keepers are deployed to take care of them. The zoo was recently under the scanner for the increasing mortality rate among the animals.