A gaur safari is set to come up in Shivamogga district and this new tourist attraction of the Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) may be the first major project after a gap of two years. Central Zoo Authority has given nod to what is reckoned to be the country’s first safari dedicated to gaurs.
The Indian Gaur safari is coming up on the outskirts of Shivamogga at Tyavarekoppa where other safaris exist and are very popular. The gaur safari is the fourth in Shivamogga after lion, tiger and herbivore safari. Perhaps, in terms of gate collections and footfall, Shivamogga comes third after Mysuru zoo and Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bengaluru.
“I don’t think there is any safari in the country that is dedicated to gaurs. Ours could be the first. After the CZA approved the safari plan, the work on establishing the safari took off and is nearing completion,” said ZAK Member Secretary and APCCF B.P. Ravi.
The proposal to shift 21 gaur from the Mysuru zoo to Shivamogga is before the CZA. The gaur would be released on a vast expanse of 75 acres identified for the safari.
“It is a challenge to shift huge animals like gaur. However, the Mysuru zoo has expertise in the transportation of animals, including giraffes and elephants, as it had earlier transported animals on long distance routes. The zoo has also shifted gaurs to Europe in the past. The zoo vets and the staff are capable of working out the plan for the testing transit,” he told The Hindu.
The conservation breeding of gaur ( bos gaurus) or Indian bison, an endangered species, has been happening at the Mysuru zoo for many years as it is the coordinating zoo for the national conservation breeding programme (CBP) of the CZA.
Zoo Executive Director Ajit Kulkarni said the gaur is a mega herbivore and a major prey species in the wild. Obviously, the focus should be on its conservation since it is a Schedule 1 animal. Gaur is next to elephant and rhinoceros in size and is critical in prey-predator relations.
