Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoo is going to be a major tourist attraction of the city in coming years. Gorewada Zoo is being decked up ahead of the inauguration of Indian Safari at the hands of Uddhav Thackeray, Chief Minister, on January 26 at 3 pm. The zoo will start for tourists from January 27. The media fraternity of the city got a preview of the Indian Safari of Gorewada Zoo on Sunday. The team of the zoo is working hard to make the inauguration event a grand success.

 

World-class facilities, use of modern technology, ample space for animals, and a variety of nature-based activities will make it a favourite destination for tourists and people of Nagpur soon. It is one of the largest Zoological Parks covering an area of more than 564 hectares. Combined with Gorewada Rescue Centre and Gorewada Reserve, the park is spread over an area of 1,914 hectares of land. After entering the zoo premises, people can get world-class facilities like cafeteria, washroom, parking lot, waiting area, etc.

 

 

 

People can experience the Indian Safari in four stages -- Leopard Safari, Sloth Bear Safari, Herbivore Safari, and Tiger Safari. Leopard Safari will have seven leopards (two male and five females) brought from different sources to Gorewada with the approval of Central Zoo Authority (CZA). Sloth Bear Safari will have six sloth bears brought from Prakash Amte’s Animal Ark and Melghat. Herbivore Safari presently has 14 Nilgai and four Chital. Major attraction of the zoo is Tiger Safari, which has two tigers including one male and one female. Rajkumar, the male tiger was the first wild animal released in the Indian Safari. There are other thematic attractions too. These include abandoned village, carcass, tunnel, and night shelters.

 

With all these themes, tourists can get more chances to view the wild animals in the zoo. During summer, the timing for the Indian Safari will be 7.30 am to 11.30 am, and 3.30 pm to 6.30 pm. For the rest of the year, safari timing will be 8.30 am to 5.30 pm. Visitors will be taken to safari in air-conditioned buses with broad glass windows to maximise viewing pleasure. Care has been taken to provide natural habitat to the animals in the safari by creating big termite mounds, caves, natural-looking waterholes, water reservoirs, etc. Safety of visitors has been given top priority while designing the enclosures in the safari, said the officials. Sanjay Rathod, Minister of Forest, will preside over the inaugural function on January 26. Eknath Shinde, Urban Development and Public Works Minister; Anil Deshmukh, Home Minister; Dr Nitin Raut, Energy Minister and Guardian Minister of Nagpur district; Sunil Kedar, Animal Husbandry Minister; and Aditya Thackeray, Tourism and Environment Minister, will grace the event with their presence. 

 

 

 

 

African Safari likely to start in one year: Vasudevan FDCM planning to do a joint venture with other private companies after Essel Group’s exit from the project “Indian Safari is the first phase of Gorewada Zoo. In the second phase, we have plans to introduce African Safari, which is likely to open in one year if everything goes right,” said N Vasudevan, Managing Director, Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), on Sunday. Addressing the mediapersons after the preview of the Indian Safari, the FDCM chief said, “We are working on walking trail and it will be introduced soon. We are preparing a small zoo on the lines of Maharajbag, which can be explored through a walking trail also.” Vasudevan said that Gorewada Zoo was a Rs 450 crore project in which State Government would contribute Rs 200 crore. Of State’s share, the administration has received Rs 95 crore. An expenditure of Rs 60 crore has been incurred on the Indian Safari so far, and Rs 35 crore is still available. “The exit of Essel Group from the project will burden us but we are planning to do a joint venture with other private companies utilising the remaining fund,” he said in reply to a question. Central Zoo Authority has granted approval to the Master Plan of Phase-II, which includes African Zoo, Tribal Trail, Night Zoo, Bio Park, Trail of Senses. All of these features of the zoo will come up in phases in the coming years. The whole project will create direct and indirect jobs in the city as well as for villagers in areas around, Vasudevan said. The implementing agency is also training youth to manage tourists, wild animals, and infrastructure with the help of experts, he added.