Ranchi zoo to offer virtual tour from Oct to shore up revenue

Ranchi: Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park, the zoo in the state capital, is gearing up to offer a virtual tour of its premises and animal enclosures for visitors amid the Covid-19 pandemic from October.
The 256-acre park, which is home to 78 species of animals, birds and reptiles, draws hundreds of visitors from Ranchi and various parts of Jharkhand every day. However, since the nationwide lockdown was clamped on March 23, the park’s gate has remained shut for visitors.
With no definite word on when the state government will throw its gates open for public again amid rising cases of Covid 19, the decision to provide virtual tours of its premises will help the park management draw eyeballs virtually and also generate revenue.
“We are developing a dedicated website for the park which will be ready in a month. Around 156 CCTV cameras are being set up across the park at a cost of Rs 2 crore. The installation of the CCTV network will be ready within a fortnight. Once both the features are set up, we will begin the virtual tour from October,” D Venkateshwarlu, the park’s director, told TOI.
The new website will also facilitate online ticketing once the park is reopened for visitors. “In an effort to introduce contactless entry into the park premises, we are also installing radio-frequency identification enabled gates where a visitor can enter by verifying his QR code which will be generated at the time of online booking,” Venkateshwarlu added.
Virtual tours are a common feature among premier zoos of the world. Amid the lockdown, Bihar’s Patna zoo also launched the same facility in April.
CCTV cameras will also help study animal behaviours and check on their health periodically. In 2018, the park’s elephant — Samrat — had killed his mahout in a fit of rage. Later, doctors found out that he was suffering from herpes. “If animals are monitored constantly and their behaviuors are studied, such mishaps can be averted in the future,” another zoo official said.