‘Rare’ birth of state’s first twins at chinkara breeding centre boosts wildlife
GURUGRAM: IT is celebration time at the chinkara (Indian gazelle) breeding centre in Jhabua village, as it has welcomed twin female fawns into its brood.
The newborns have served as a timely boost to the wildlife population of the state. Wildlife officials termed the births rarest of rare and said that the newborns were the first chinkara twins of the state.
“This is a rarest of rare case and the first of its kind in Haryana, wherein a chinkara has delivered twins. Parvati has created history,” Dr. Ashok Khasa, veterinary surgeon, wildlife, said.
Parvati, one of the female chinkaras at the breeding centre, gave birth to the twins around 5.30am on Wednesday. The twins weigh 750 grams and 800 grams respectively. Wednesday marked the fourth time that Parvati welcomed newborns.
Parvati became pregnant after mating with a chinkara named Shiv in October last year. After the successful delivery of a fawn by Maya, another female chinkara, in 2013, the centre had decided to arrange a mate for Parvati.
Officials at the centre said that a female chinkara reaches sexual maturity between twoand-a-half and three years of age and her reproduction period lasts for 15 years. On Thursday, the twins were spotted sitting near a tree, enjoying the sunshine. They were feeling cold as the ground was wet after the showers that lashed the area on the day they were born. They could barely walk and slept for most of the day.
Officials said that their mother had been doting on them since they were born and fed them from time to time. They said Parvati was born at the Jhabua centre in April 2012, and was loved by all. She was sprightly and was mostly spotted prancing around, the officials said. They said she was friendly in nature and attracted visitors by the dozens and even posed of pictures with them.
“Parvati is expressive and never shies away from showing her emotions. Whenever she spots a visitor clicking pictures, she tries to get close to them and pose for snaps. She is also good at sensing emotions in others and the ambience around her,” Khasa said.
Officials said that barely 15 days after delivering a fawn in October last year, she became pregnant with the twins. At present, the centre houses 28 chinkaras — two males, 19 females and seven young ones. Seven of them were born in 2017, the officials said.
Parvati has been kept in a separate enclosure along with her newborns, as she would have to feed them for the next two months.
She is mostly seen playing with her twins and running around with them, the officials said. The Jhabua centre is spread across 80 acres of land inside a reserve forest, close to Jhabua village. The village is situated 100km from Delhi and 70km from Gurugram, towards Jaipur.
The centre is fenced with a 10-foot high link chain and has CCTV cameras for surveillance. The breeding centre, which was opened by the Haryana forest department in 2011, has welcomed three fawns this year. The centre is dedicated to the conservation of chinkaras, a rare and endangered species.
Though considered the state animal of Rajasthan, chinkaras are rarely found there. With the opening of two breeding centres in Bhiwani and Jhabua, their numbers have grown over the years. Wildlife officials say some of the reasons why the chinkaras are considered an endangered species are the changed cropping pattern, conversion of sandy hills into the plain cultivated land, excessive use of chemical spray on crops and sowing of chemically treated seeds.
Chinkaras are now seen in fewer numbers in the state and if the pattern of decline in population continues, they could be on the cusp of extinction. “These chinkaras are protected under Schedule-1 of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. There was a time when there were a number of them in the Aravallis, but their population has declined since then due to increased infrastructure development and biotic interference,” Vinod Kumar, chief conservator of forests (wildlife Gurugram), said.
“This centre will help boost the wildlife population in the state and the exchange programme. Every time we seek animals from other states, we can offer them chinkaras in exchange,” he added. “This breeding centre has proved to be a success. The objective behind opening this facility was to arrest the slide in chinkara population across the state,” Rao Narbir Singh, state minister for forest and wildlife, said.
THE TWINS WERE BORN LAST WEEK. WILDLIFE OFFICIALS HAVE TERMED THE BIRTHS ‘RAREST OF RARE’