(IN): Foster mom for khalij chicks

May 13, 2009

Foster mom for khalij chicks

PEMA LEYDA SHANGDERPA

Gangtok, May 12: A dozen abandoned eggs of a khalij pheasant have been

hatched with the help of a domestic hen in the Himalayan Zoological Park

near here.

The chicks are doing well.

The eggs were found on March 29 inside the park, located 5km above Gangtok.

The zoo authority used a hen, which was brought from Sardong in West Sikkim,

to hatch the eggs that were abandoned by the mother bird. The khalij

pheasant is one of the most attractive Himalayan birds with colourful

plumage and is an endangered species under the Indian Wildlife Act of 1972.

“The eggs hatched on April 1 within three days of the hen sitting on them.

The chicks are healthy and are devoted to their surrogate mother,” said N.P.

Dahal, the additional conservator of forests in charge of the zoo at

Bulbuley.

Usha Lachungpa, a senior research officer with the state wildlife and

environment management department, said the khalij pheasant has many

similarities with domestic hens. “The chicks will do well under the guidance

of the hen,” she said.

M.K. Shivshankar, the joint director of the zoo and also the vet in-charge,

said the khalij chicks were likely to follow their natural instincts. “We

are taking this opportunity to monitor the habits of the chicks. We will

soon have them breeding, so that visitors to the zoo can have a glimpse of

this magnificent Himalayan bird.”

He added that the birds would develop plumage when they become adults.

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