Finally, the proposed African Safari in Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoo got the administrative approval to Rs 517.76 crore budget for construction of African Zoo, Safari Plaza and other works recently. A Government Resolution (GR) issued on Monday mentioned about the administrative approval to forest department. Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), the implementing body of the project, submitted the estimate before the Cabinet on October 10 and in the meeting it got approval. For African Zoo, the Government approved a budget of Rs 214.91 crore whereas for construction of Safari Plaza, the government approved Rs 40.76 crore. For construction of new entrance plaza and parking space at Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoo, amount of Rs 40.76 crore is granted by the Cabinet.

 

“We are expecting that the work order for African Safari will be issued in March 2025. After issuing the work order the construction will take around two years time and it likely to be open for tourist in the year 2027,” said Shatnik Bhagwat, Zoo Director, told The Hitavada. “The proposed African Safari is long pending and the latest development will help to create job opportunities for residents of nearby villages,” said Bhagwat. More than 33 species of African wild animals including Lemur, Meerkat, Klipspringer, African wild dog, Rock hyrax, Greater Kudu, Impala, Gemsbok, Ostrich, wildebeest, Hippopotamus, Giraffe, Zebra, Baboon, Chimpanzee, African lion, African Cheetah, Southern white rhinoceros etc. will be procured for Gorewada. In the recent approval, government sanctioned a budget of Rs 80 crores for animal procurement. White rhinoceros a ‘Near Threatened’ species in the world, will be the major attraction of the zoo. “We will prepare the exact environment of Savana landscape in African Safari with similar trees like babool, subabool, dates etc. at 63 ha area,” said Bhagwat.

 

A massive separate entrance gate other than Indian Safari will be constructed near the opposite side of Gorewada Jungle entrance gate. The ticket counter for African and Indian Safari will be there near the African Safari entrance gate. “The African Safari will be completely different from the Indian Safari. In Indian Safari, tourists can experience leopard safari first, then sloth beer safari, then herbivorous and at the end the tiger safari. In African Safari, all carnivorous and herbivorous will be kept together without any visible boundaries for tourists. However, there will be invisible boundaries which will be known for the staff and also the animals too,” said the Zoo Director.