KARACHI, Jan 3: Though Karachi Zoo and Safari Park registered a steady growth in the number of births in 2001, more than 80 per cent of successfully breeding species are of foreign origin and many of local species do not even have a match owing to bureaucratic hitches between different zoos and provincial departments of the country.

During the last year Safari Park and Karachi Zoo registered a total of 134 births among mammals while it was 125 during the year 2000 which gives a healthy sign that captive breeding has been successful in Karachi zoo.

Among the mammals in the year 2001, black bucks gave 24 births, blue bull 12, spotted deer 21, gazelle deer 23, fallow deer 18, red deer 5, white fallow deer 6, olive baboon 1, porcupine 2, zebra 1, llama 5, sika deer 8, European maflon sheep 7, sambhar deer 1.

While among the reptiles, giant tortoise hatched 70 offsprings and black swan and crown crane hatched three and two eggs respectively.

The local species (urial, ibex, leopards, wolves and a number of birds reptiles) are facing threat of extinction.

Ironically, Karachi zoo has few single animals whose pair have not been formed by the zoo authorities.

There is one female hog deer (a native species of Sindh), one female black bear belonging to Southern Punjab and a male aligator (gavial).

One female aligator is present at Lahore zoo but official procedure has prevented the transfer of any one of poor species to Karachi or Lahore for breeding.—PPI