Indore: Attracting visitors to discover more about wildlife, city zoo has added two new species of swans. A pair of black swans (Cygnus atratus) were seen in the enclosure for visitors on Sunday. Another new species of swan is Cygnus olor, commonly known as mute swan.
Talking about the species, zoo curator Nihar Parulekar said, “We had been looking to add some species to the zoo for children who visit during their vacation.” He elaborated that footfall of zoo increases in summer. “Animals are also very active during summer and they interact when we have a lot of visitors,” Parulekar said. Footfall approximately touched 10,000 on Sunday. Sharing details about the new species, Parulekar said, “Black swans are very rare and Indore is first in the state to have them.”
They breed mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia. Sharing the reason for always bringing them in pair, Parulekar said, “They are monogamous breeders and are unusual in that one-quarter of all pairings are homosexual, mostly between males.”
The birds became a source of amusement as they had black-feathered body, with white flight feathers. “We got these birds under exchange programme with Baroda zoo,” Parulekar said. He explained that exchange programme allows zoos to add more species and ensure rotation of animals throughout the country.
Discussing mute swans, Parulekar said, “It is native to much of Eurasia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa.” Measuring 125 to 170 cm (49 to 67 in) in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage with an orange beak bordered with black. “The name ‘mute’ derives from it being less vocal than other swan species,” Parulekar said.