Nehru Zoological Park welcomes real-life ‘Rafikis’

Brightly coloured mandrills have recently joined the Nehru Zoological Park‘s collection. They will make their first public appearance after their 15-day mandatory quarantine period.

The two mandrills were brought from the Tata Zoological Park, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, to Hyderabad zoo a week ago. This is in exchange for a pair of African lions. With vibrant blue and red facial ridges, yellow beards, the mandrills, which are the largest primates and native to tropical rainforests of central Africa, are widely known for their appearance. These primates got more prominence after



Rafiki, a famous character from ‘The Lion King’ movie.

“We received two male mandrills from the Tata Zoological Park, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, as part of the animal exchange programme. Currently, these primates are under quarantine and they will be displayed for the visitors in the first week of March,” Nehru Zoological Park Curator J Vasantha told ‘Telangana Today’.

The zoo is also planning conservation and breeding of these primates. Accordingly, efforts are on to get two female mandrills in about five to six months for companionship for the males.