Hyderabad: The 56th Zoo Day was celebrated at Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad on Sunday. The occasion also coincided with the 65th Vanya PraniSaptah which was also observed at the zoological park.
Speaking at the Zoo Day celebrations, Chief Secretary SK Joshi said the Nehru Zoological Park, established in 1963, is considered as a pioneer among all other zoos in the country in introducing a safari park, a nocturnal animal house, open enclosures for wild animals and several other initiatives.
The city zoo has successful breed indigenous species the Asiatic lion, royal Bengal tiger, herbivores, antelopes, gaur, reptiles and almost all species of birds, including exotic species. It is ranked among the top-three zoos in the country.
The animal diversity in Nehru Zoological Park and sprawling gardens attracts approximately 29 lakh visitors every year. Emphasis has been laid on providing better amenities to visitors.
The Chief Secretary lauded officers for their innovative thinking and implementation of works at the zoo. This year the city zoo added a pair of giraffe, a pair of King Cobra and several other species as part of an animal exchange program. Adding new species to the collection is expected to keep the visitors interested in visiting the park.
“As it is rightly said, we have borrowed our natural resources from our future generations and have the responsibility to hand it over to them with interest. I appreciate the various educational programs being taken up by the zoo team for creating awareness among the students and public,” SK Joshi said.
The zoo provides free visits to students of government schools and concessional rates to other private schools, which are important for creating awareness amongst future generations.
The event was also attended among others by Special Chief Secretary Rajeshwar Tiwari, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (HoFF & CWW) R Shoba, PCCF (Admin) Munindra and ex-PCCF AV Joseph, who released a pair of lion-tailed macaque into a zoo enclosure brought in from Chennai’s Vandaluru Zoo as part the exchange programme of animals.
Authored by Mohammed Hussain, mohammedhussain.reporter@gmail.com Twitter: @writetohussain