The lion safari at Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park, commonly known as Chhatbir Zoo, is set to reverberate with the roar of more lions as the zoo authorities released two more male Asiatic lions here this morning. These Asiatic lions were released in the presence of Roshan Sunkaria, Additional Chief Secretary (Forests), Punjab; Kuldip Kumar, Principal Chief Conservator of (Forests)-cum-Chief Wildlife Warden, Punjab; M Sudhagar, Field Director, Chhatbir Zoo; and senior officers of the Department of Forests and Wildlife Preservation, Punjab. The pair, Gagan and Sawan (twins), both four years old, was brought from Indore in October this year under the animal exchange programme. They had been quarantined to familiarise themselves with the surroundings for the past one month.
The twins were currently undergoing a four-week quarantine and acclimatisation period at the zoo. The lions arrived from Indore Zoo, Madhya Pradesh, and had adjusted well in the zoo environment. They were released in the lion safari after the successful completion of the quarantine period today. This will take the number of lions at the zoo to seven (three male and four female). Apart from two male lions, Chhatbir Zoo acquired a young male tiger (Nav), a pair of wolves, foxes and a sloth bear from Indore Zoo under the animal exchange programme, said zoo officials.
Before this, the zoo had acquired and successfully transported two Asiatic lions and a white tigress from Rajkot Zoo, Gujarat, in August 2019. Apart from this, tigress Diya of Chhatbir Zoo has successfully delivered cubs, which are 20 days old at present.
In addition, Chhatbir Zoo will soon get a dinosaur park with six robotic dinosaurs, two of which will also interact with visitors. The civil works for this park also began today.
The project is expected to be completed and functional by the end of this financial year at a cost of nearly Rs 4 crore.
