14 December,2020 07:40 AM IST | Mumbai | A correspondent
After hundreds of species of domestic and foreign birds, animals and reptiles, the latest to join the list of the authorities at Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo, is anacondas. It plans to get a pair of giant anacondas from a zoo in European or South American countries. The civic body aims to attract tourists from home and abroad and give them the experience of being in a forest with the help of these creatures.
The civic body aims to attract tourists to give them the experience of being in a forest. File pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
Enclosures are being set up on 1,500 square metres of land for 21 species of snakes. They will include various species of cobras and a pair of giant anacondas. It is also proposed to bring in a monitor lizard. The proposal for this has been submitted to the central zoo authority. Sanjay Tripathi, director of Byculla Zoo, confirmed this.
The BMC is building enclosures for exotic species and Indian species in phase II of the zoo upgrade. The new enclosures will be constructed to accommodate new animals such as white lion, jaguar, cheetah, ring-tailed lemur, chimpanzee, mandrill monkeys, ostrich and emu. With the addition of these animals and birds species, the zoo will in total have 190 Indian species and 20-odd exotic species (including penguins).
According to the primary plans of the BMC, citizens might get to see several exotic birds, which will be kept in the aviary which will be thrown open to the public immediately once the zoo reopens after the lockdown. A civic official said, "We will focus on completing the construction work and once we get the approvals to reopen the zoo, we will start the aviary and few other enclosures."
Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates.
Mid-Day is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@middayinfomedialtd) and stay updated with the latest news
