Vizag zoo reopens post Hudhud

VISAKHAPATNAM: A month after Cyclone Hudhud left it in shambles, the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) finally reopened its doors for the general public on Tuesday, albeit sans some of its star attractions like the white tiger, tiger and the butterfly park, which was completely destroyed by the cyclone. Also only part of the zoo's birds and fish collection were displayed on Tuesday.
Leaving aside the huge infrastructural and ecological damage, the zoo incurred a loss of around Rs 25 lakh due to lack of ticket sales as it was forced to remain closed for one month after the cyclone. However, on Tuesday the zoo saw around 500 visitors and raked in ticket sales of around Rs 10,000.
Out of the total 65 enclosures, only 50 enclosures opened to the public on Tuesday. With most of the tree debris cleared and logs being segregated depending on the size, the zoo is expected to completely reopen in the next couple of weeks with new inmates too boot, said zoo curator G Ramalingam.
"Within a couple of weeks, we hope to open the remaining enclosures to the public. By this month-end, we will also bring new species of seven sacred baboons, which are currently housed in Hyderabad. The pygmy hippos from Sri Lanka will be brought in a month or two, once the situation at the zoo improves further," Ramalingam said, pointing out that with the peak season underway they were confident that the number of visitors would go up in a few days once all the enclosures were restored.
Despite their disappointment that prime attractions such as the white tiger and tiger as well as swamp hog, barking deer and marmosets, among others, were not displayed as their badly damaged enclosures are still under repair, the overall mood among the hundreds of visitors that trooped in on day one of the reopening was upbeat.
The reopening day saw a large number of students as well as visitors from other states, including a group of around 30 zoology students and professors from Burdwan Women's College, West Bengal, touring the zoo in the battery-operated vehicles.
Anil Chatterjee, professor of zoology, Burdwan Women's College, who was on his 10th visit to the zoo said he could see the impact Hudhud has had on the zoo. "Every year, I come with my students to Vizag as part of an educational tour. We select Vizag because the biodiversity of the Eastern Ghats are worth studying and Vizag zoo is one of the most beautiful zoos in the country amidst a natural setting. It's really sad to see such signs of destruction everywhere, especially with thousands of trees fallen."
However, his students enjoyed their visit and one of them, Debjani Saha, said, "We are lucky to have visited the day the zoo reopened. Though many flora and fauna are missing, we liked the place and clicked photographs."