GUWAHATI, Jan 1 - The Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden and Aaranyak have jointly achieved success by hatching a pair of Greater Adjutant Stork (�Hargila�) chicks on an artificial platform within the Zoo enclosure for the first time.
State Zoo DFO Tejas Mariswamy extended his New Year wishes through this good news, saying that the Zoo authorities are proud to share this news with the people as this has happened �for the first time in a Zoo.�
�We don�t have any report that this endangered bird has bred in any zoo or any captivity,� he stated.
Forest Minister Parimal Suklabadiya has congratulated the entire team for this successful breeding programme.
This rarest of storks is currently on the brink of extinction due to habitat loss stemming from indiscriminate felling of big trees and dwindling wetlands.
Biologist Dr Purnima Devi Barman, who leads the Greater Adjutant Conservation Project of Aaranyak, informed, �In 2017, Aaranyak started collaborating with the Assam State Zoo with a new idea of creating assisted breeding platforms for the captive Greater Adjutant Storks. The birds nested since 2017 but no eggs hatched. Finally, we achieved success on November 26 when the first chick hatched. It is the first recorded pair of Greater Adjutant Storks to breed on an artificial platform.�
The commotion created by Zoo visitors were also monitored and care was taken so that the birds did not suffer from disturbance, informed Zoo officials. This is the first ever such experiment on breeding the Greater Adjutant Stork inside a Zoo and success of this project shows that captive breeding of this species is possible in the near future.