Agartala, July 9: The Sipahijala Wildlife Sanctuary in Tripura is now a proud host to new-borns of three endangered animals - clouded leopard, pig-tailed macaque and spectacle monkey.
The Sipahijala Wildlife Sanctuary, one of 42 national breeding centres in the country and situated roughly 18 km from here, was assigned by the Central Zoo Authority of India to breed four animals prone to extinction.
While Reshmi, a clouded leopard, gave birth to a baby on June 8, prized spectacle monkey gave birth to a baby on May 28 and the pigtailed macaque, a primate, delivered two babies on May 5 and June 2 respectively, director of the sanctuary, Ajit Bhaumick, said.
However, another endangered animal binturong, also known as bearcat, is yet to give birth to a baby in the breeding centre, Bhaumick said.
“Recently we have brought one such bearcat from Mizoram and are trying for conservation breeding. While selecting any animal, we try to find out how healthy it is. We are trying our best to get a baby of binturong in this breeding centre,” Bhaumick said.
Binturong is rare with its population decline estimated to be more than 30 per cent over the last 30 years.
A clouded leopard's average life span is 12 to 15 years. There are three female clouded leopards and as many males in the breeding centre.
