Imphal: Manipur’s state animal, the brow-antlered deer (scientific name Rucervus eldii eldii), locally called Sangai deer, a globally endangered species, is a major attraction for visitors at the Manipur Zoological Garden, Iroishemba in the Imphal West district.
The zoo was opened to the public on the occasion of the Manipur Meitei Hindus’ New Year/Chieraoba 2025, celebrated on Monday.
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The Sangai deer is a unique subspecies found only in the Loktak Lake region of Manipur and is critically endangered.
The Sangai is a distinctive deer with long brow tines on its antlers and is also called the “Dancing Deer” due to its hopping gait on the floating vegetation and is a medium-sized deer, with uniquely distinctive antlers, with extremely long brow tines, which form the main beam.
The zoo houses 45 different animal species and 392 bird species from diverse ecosystems, and conservation breeding programs are in place for various species, including the state bird.
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The state bird of Manipur is the Hume’s Pheasant, also locally known as Nongin or Mrs. Hume’s Barredback Pheasant.
It’s a large, forest pheasant with a male that is 90 cm long and a female that is 60 cm long. The Nongin is included in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, which provides it with legal protection.
Situated at the foothills of the pine-clad Iroisemba Hillocks and set up on October 2, 1976, the zoo which attracts about 1.3 visitors in a year, houses birds and aminals including brow-antlered deer, golden cat, serow, hoolock gibbon, capped langur, slow loris, Malaysian sun bear, Indian hornbill, Burmese peafowl, hog deer, many reptiles, and Hume’s Barredback Pheasant.