Thrissur: Akash and Nikku, a lion and a leopard at the Thrissur Zoo, are ready to move from the confines of their cages to the freedom of the forest as they relocate to a 350-acre zoological park in Puthur, Thrissur from December. They will be accompanied by Kiran, a tiger, Poppy, a hippo, Tutu, a cow and other friends from the zoo.
The zoological park is being set up at a cost of Rs 300 crores to suit the habitat of animals and birds in the zoo and the construction is in the final stages. Excess animals from the zoo will be transferred to other states in exchange for animals from other species. There are also plans to import some animals from other countries. Currently, the Thrissur Zoo has 511 inhabitants from 64 species, including mammals, birds and reptiles and amphibians. They will be relocated to the zoological park over the next six months. The zoo will open to the public next year.
The zoological park at Puthur is the first park in India to be designed by world-renowned Zoo designer, John Coe. The famous Bali Safari & Marine Park, and Sydney Taronga Zoo were designed by him. John has designed zoos in various countries including Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, and the UAE. He has also worked on the master plan of Bhubaneswar and Coimbatore zoos.
The new park will feature special places to showcase the wildlife in its natural habitat. There will be 23 such dwellings. Three of these are for different species of birds. The park would feature ample parking space, reception & orientation centre, service roads, visitor lanes, toilet blocks, tram roads, tram stations, visitor galleries for viewing animals, cafeteria, administrative office complex, quarters and veterinary hospital. Visitors can take oa tram ride to see the animals. Four trams will be set up for this. There will also be state-of-the-art catering facilities for animals.
The new zoological park will cover 136.85 hectares of forest land in the Pattikad range of the Thrissur Forest Division. The main drawback of the present zoo, which operates on 13 acres in the city of Thrissur, was its limited space and this will be addressed by the new park. The Thrissur Zoological Park project was announced in the revised budget for 2016-17 and is being implemented with KIIFB funding.