An enclosure for the nocturnal animals was inaugurated and four wild dogs and a pair of female lion cubs were inducted today at the Alipore Zoo ahead of the Christmas and new year holiday season. State forest minister Rajib Banerjee and minister of state (forest) Sujit Bose inaugurated the new facility for the nocturnal creatures.
Speaking at the inauguration programme, the forest minister said, “The Alipore Zoo got three new additions today just before the Christmas and new year holiday season. Four wild dogs and two female lion cubs named as Isha and Nisha were released today for public viewing. An enclosure for the nocturnal animals was also thrown open for the public today.”
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We hope that these new additions will attract more visitors to the zoo. Last year, this zoo created a record on Christmas day when more than 1.15 lakh people visited the zoo. I hope that this year will record even more footfall during the winter holidays than the previous year. We are trying to add new animals to the zoo to make it more attractive for the visitors.”
Highlighting several measures taken by the state government and the zoo authority to maintain environmental balance, he said that two initiatives have been undertaken by the forest department.
“We have installed several plastic crushing machines that can crush all plasticmade materials including bottles in the zoo premises, and more trees such as saal, mahogany, teak and other flower saplings will be planted across the city to increase greenery under the urban forestry as we all know that only trees can combat pollution. The forest department’s work is not restricted only to the forests,” said Mr Banerjee.
The enclosure, which has a night-like atmosphere, will house barn owl, slow loris monkey, porcupine, pangolin and long-eared hedgehog inside.
