Nandankanan country’s fifth best zoo, lauded for pangolin breeding

Bhubaneswar: The Nandankanan Biological Park has been ranked fifth among India’s 16 large zoos and rated “good” in the Management Effectiveness Evaluation (MEE-ZOO) report 2022, released by the Union ministry of environment, forest and climate change recently.
Nandankan, with an MEE score of 73%, shares fifth spot among large zoos with Delhi’s National Zoological Park and Bannerghatta Biological Park in Karnataka. Arignar Anna Zoological Park in Tamil Nadu with a MEE score of 82% tops the rank.
The report rated five zoos as very good, 17 as good, 13 as fair and four as ‘requires substantial improvement.’ The zoos were evaluated on 40 indicators under six broad elements — context, planning, input, process, output and outcomes. Nandankan scored on conservation breeding of Indian pangolin among the best innovative practices in Indian zoos.
“Research on conservation breeding of Indian pangolin is actively being conducted in the specially established ‘Indian pangolin conservation breeding centre’. The pangolins are continuously monitored through infrared sensitive CCTV cameras and provided a near natural diet. The enclosure development is done to closely mimic natural habitats,” the report stated.
The report has urged Nandankanan to identify its mission, vision, objectives and strategy as per the National Zoological Park (NZP) policy. Nandankanan director Manoj V Nair said, “We are the only zoo in the world to have been running a successful pangolin breeding centre. We are now re-wilding the captive born pangolins, which is a very unique move.”