BHOPAL: After the Central Zoo Authority’s (CZA) clearance to Patna Zoo to give one Asiatic lion, Van Vihar National Park is set to get one soon.With the arrival of 5-year-old lion Sheru from Patna Zoo, the number of lions in Van Vihar will go up to 7.Though Van Vihar’s officials had requested CZA a young pair, Patna’s Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park has agreed to give only one lion.KK Himanshu, range officer at Patna Zoo, said, “We have accepted to send our lion Sheru in exchange for a male bison. Patna Zoo needs lioness and one male bison so that breeding can begin. Since there was no Asiatic lion in Bhopal’s national park, we have decided to exchange it with male bison.” He said, “Sheru was born on March 8, 2013. He is not ferocious. He is progeny of Patna’s lion Vishal. At present, we only have 3 lions— Vishal and his progeny Samrat and Sheru.”“But date of shifting depends on Bhopal’s Van Vihar staff. They are ones, who will come with the bison to Patna Zoo and take Sheru to Bhopal,” said the range officer.Van Vihar has been trying to get Asiatic lions from Gujarat’s Sakkarbaug and Bilaspur’s Kanan Pendari Zoo officials, recently. Of the two, the later responded to the request.Efforts of Van Vihar authorities’ last year for Asiatic lions from Sakkarbaug zoological garden gave a ray of hope. Also, Gujarat had promised to give a pair of lions from young stock in exchange for sambhar and cheetal from Van Vihar.In October 2015, Gujarat had agreed to give Asiatic lions to Van Vihar National Park. But Van Vihar management in May 2016 had refused to take the pair of Asiatic lions from the Junagadh zoo on the grounds of old age.

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