The Forest Department is mulling at bringing in large carnivorous animals to Kurumbapatti Zoological Park here as part of its efforts to upgrade the zoo into a medium category zoological park.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden of Tamil Nadu S. Yuvaraj inspected the zoo premises on Saturday and suggested development measures.
Mr. Yuvaraj along with A. Periasamy, Conservator of Forests, Salem Circle, R. Kanchana, District Forest Officer Salem (in charge) and other senior officials conducted the inspections and suggested measures for upgrading the park to medium category.
Chief Minister Edappadi.K.Palaniswami in February announced that the zoological park would be upgraded to medium category and ₹8 crore was announced for the purpose.
According to forest officials, they are considering expanding the park area from 31.74 hectares to 80 hectares within the Kurumbapatty reserved forest for accommodating large carnivorous animals like tiger and leopard and also sloth bear.
The officials inspected the park premises and suggested sites for setting up enclosures for large carnivorous animals and developing other infrastructure like modernisation of existing enclosures, creation of veterinary facilities, construction of interpretation centre and store room and formation of pathways around the park. At present, the park has 156 species of wild animals.