Indian zoo to introduce leopard cat, start night safaris

RANCHI | Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Govt plans to launch night safari service

Joy Sengupta | Ranchi

Imagine trekking through the wild in the night listening to the howls and growls of the beasts.

And if that’s not enough, visualise a carnivore staring at you while you move along.

The State is planning to have its first night safari where visitors can watch animals after sunset.

Last week saw Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahto discussion the matter with the Forest department officials.

The Minister, along with the officials took a round at the Barwe Patra area in Ormanjhi which is expected to be the site for the safari.

PK Verma, the Director of the Birsa Munda Zoological Park said that the plan was still in the conceptual stage at the moment.

“There is a plan for a night safari in the State but then a lot of planning and discussions need to be done in this regard. We haven’t thought about anything concrete at the moment. Work in this connection will begin soon. Studies are going on,” he said.

Sources said that the Mahto is excited about the setting up of the safari in the State and has told the officials to start working fast. The minister had said that they will be getting foreign expertise if required for this project.

“We could send or invite experts who have got an idea about the project. A blueprint in this connection will be prepared first,” Singh said.

One among the most popular Night Safaris is in Singapore will houses 1040 animals of 120 species. The safari is visited by around 1.1 million people each year and is among the major tourist attractions of Singapore (Wikipedia information).

Earlier, officials have chalked out plans for the development of the Zoological Garden which includes the construction of a huge ‘walk around’ Avery for exotic birds. Also in the pipeline lies the introduction of new animals in the zoo which includes a Leopard Cat, a hippopotamus.

The Birsa Munda Zoological Park, located in Ormanjhi, is spread over an area of 104 hectare and houses around 522 species of birds and animals. Altogether, there are 29 enclosures in all.

http://www.dailypioneer.com/238218/Govt-plans-to-launch-night-safari-service.html

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