Thiruvananthapuram: Visitors, get ready to have a peek at majestic lions in full zest and vigour. The Thiruvananthapuram Zoo is all set to welcome two Asiatic lions, taking the number of the big cats at the zoo to five.

More animals
It's after a long wait that the zoo is adding one pair each of lion, Hanuman monkey, white peacock, emu and two pairs of wildfowl to its attractive collections.

The young lions are being brought from Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, and the pair is expected to arrive at the city zoo by Monday night.

“This is as part of the animal exchange programme of the Central Zoo Authority,” said Anju Shivadas, Director of Thiruvananthapuram zoo, among the biggest in South India.

Hippos instead of lions
The pair of hybrid lions are aged five and six years. They are set to join two other lions in the zoo. One of them ‘Ayush’, around 20 years old, is under treatment, while the other ‘Gracy’ is five-year-old. The male lion at the Thrissur Zoo is also not healthy.

Instead of the lions, the Thiruvananthapuram Zoo will hand over one pair of hippos out of its eight water horses to Tirupati. It already gave a deer (panniman), and a hyena to the Tirupati Zoo.

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