It is not just tourists visiting Tirupati and surrounding religious places affected because of the Telangana row, but also animal lovers and animals.

The wait to see a giraffe walk around in Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) is going to take a while longer. This is because the only cage available in south India to get the giraffe from Mysore zoo to Bangalore is available at Tirupati zoo, also known as Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park. Due to Telangana row, the officials and team of veterinarians from BBP are unable to get it.

Giraffes in Mysore Zoo. Pic courtesy: Wikimedia Commons/Mutyala Rao.

The plan to get the giraffe was mooted and agreed upon in July, 2013. The Zoo Authority of Karnataka wanted to bring the tallest animal on earth from Mysore Zoo to BBP within two weeks (that is by mid-July). The BBP staff has prepared the enclosure in BBP to house the animal, near the elephant enclosure.

B C Chittiappa, assistant director at BBP, told Citizen Matters: “Talks are on with the officials to see how the problem of bringing the cage can be resolved. We are also talking to travel agencies, who will take the team of veterinarians from BBP to Tirupati Zoo to see the cage and bring it here. But the travel agents are skeptical to travel to Tirupati fearing the Telangana dispute.”

He adds that building another cage will take atleast 4-5 months. However, getting a cage will take only 1-2 days. Until things are better in Andhra Pradesh, everyone will have to wait to see giraffe.