Archive · 3 Sep 2026
Leopard Veeru Joins SAIL’s I.G. Park Zoo In Rourkela
A male leopard named Veeru has arrived at a zoo in Rourkela.
He travelled about 2,400 kilometres by road from Jamnagar in Gujarat.
Veeru came from the Greens Zoological, Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre at Vantara.
He reached the zoo on August 28.
Officials held a ceremony on August 31 to give him his name formally.
Veeru is being kept in the zoo’s leopard enclosure.
He replaced another leopard that could not adjust to the zoo’s environment.
The exchange was approved and carried out under animal-transport rules.
Seven-year-old male leopard Veeru arrived at SAIL’s I.G. Park Zoo in Rourkela on August 28.
Veeru travelled nearly 2,400 kilometres by road from GZRRC at Vantara in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
A naming ceremony was held on August 31, with former Rourkela Steel Plant executive Tarun Misra naming the leopard.
Veeru, scientifically identified as Panthera pardus fusca, was born on May 13, 2020.
The leopard replaced one of two animals previously brought from Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park in Pune under an approved exchange programme.
- Who
- A seven-year-old male leopard named Veeru, along with officials and staff from the participating zoological institutions.
- What
- Veeru was inducted into SAIL’s I.G. Park Zoo as part of an approved animal exchange programme.
- When
- Veeru arrived on August 28, and his naming ceremony took place on August 31; the year was not specified.
- Where
- I.G. Park Zoo in Rourkela, after transport from GZRRC at Vantara in Jamnagar, Gujarat.
- Why
- He replaced one of two leopards brought from Pune after that animal could not adapt to the Rourkela zoo’s environment.
- Leopard name
- Veeru
- Age and sex
- Seven-year-old male
- Scientific identification
- Panthera pardus fusca
- Date of birth
- May 13, 2020
- Journey
- Nearly 2,400 kilometres by road
- Arrival date
- August 28
- Naming ceremony
- August 31
- Source facility
- Greens Zoological, Rescue & Rehabilitation Centre at Vantara, Jamnagar, Gujarat