Mohali: Over 14,000 visitors throng Chhatbir zoo for lion safari in month

MOHALI: It seems that the incident of lions killing a man at Chhatbir zoo has had little impact on people’s enthusiasm for the zoo’s lion safari. According to the field director M Sudhagar, since February 2 more than 14,600 visitors thronged the zoo for the safari, and the count is only increasing.

“After a closure of 11 days, following the incident in which two lions mauled a trespasser, the lion safari was thrown open on February 2. The decision to restart the lion safari was made after taking all security measures to ensure visitor’s safety,” Sudhagar said.


The lion safari was annulled for public after a pair of lions — Yuvraj and Shilpa — mauled an intruder to death. The man had entered their area after scaling wire-mesh wall enclosure from Ghaggar river side on January 20. The incident even raised questions on measures taken by the zoo authorities.

“We have put blind cover on wire-mesh wall, discouraging the view from outside the lion safari. Now people passing from the river side will not have any eye contact with the zoo animals.

Deer safari will also be secured with blind covers so that no such incident of human-animal conflict takes place in the future,” Sudhagar said.

The incident of January 20 challenged the security measures at Chhatbir zoo as it proved that fencing was inadequate to curb human intrusion, which also made lions vulnerable to getting hunted.

Sudhagar said as far as security of visitors is concerned, the zoo was fully-equipped. Buses that take visitors for lion safari do not have windows that can open and are surrounded by iron rods. “The bus has one driver and an attendant, who are trained to keep visitors safe during their visit. To further secure the area, we have plans to install closed-circuit television cameras,” he added.

Meanwhile, the visitors of Chhatbir zoo will now get guided tours of lion safari as the zoo authorities have employed six new guides, who will accompany visitors in each bus. The guides are also trained to handle emergency situations and safeguard visitors.

“The move has come in the wake of increasing safety for the visitors after a man was mauled by two lions,” said field director M Sudhagar. In January, Punjab minister Navjot Singh Sidhu adopted six-year-old Aman and his five-year-old companion Dia — a pair of the Royal Bengal tigers.

The adoption took place under the ADOPT (Animals Depend On People Too) scheme of the zoo. The scheme was launched here around six years ago.