Maharashtra budget: No fresh allocation for African safari in Gorewada zoo

NAGPUR: Even though deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis announced in the state budget to start African safari at Balasaheb Thackeray International Zoological Park in Gorewada next year, no fresh allocation of funds has been made for the purpose.
In the last budget, then finance minister Ajit Pawar had announced Rs100 crore for the African safari project. Out of this, Rs50 crore had already been released to the Forest Development Corporation of Maharashtra (FDCM), which is executing the project.
“Though the budgetary allocation to the forest department has been pegged at Rs2,294 crore, it was expected that the state would announce special funds to the signature project of the city, but it did not come in the budget. The Rs450-crore project needs speedy funds,” said Swaccha Association founder Anasuya Kale-Chhabrani.
Meanwhile, work on the African safari has started with boundary demarcation. “The project is being designed by zoo designer Bernard Harrison from Singapore. Bernard’s schematic designs for African safari (63 hectares), bird park (10 hectares), and safari plaza (4 hectares) have been approved by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA),” said Shatanik Bhagwat, zoo director.
“The African safari will house 30 animal species including zebra, giraffe, lions, cheetah, hippopotamus, spotted hyena, wildebeests, ostrich, baboons, and chimpanzees among other animals. If all goes well, the African safari project will be completed by 2024-end,” said Bhagwat.
As reported by the TOI first on November 21, 2022, Gorewada on Wednesday received two pairs each of red jungle fowls, silver pheasants, and golden pheasants. The birds were gifted by Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling, West Bengal.
Bhagwat said, “The zoological park is also expected to receive reticulated pythons, the world’s longest snake, soon. The Pilikula Biological Park, Mangaluru in Karnataka, will exchange three pairs of reticulated pythons in lieu of one pair of white blackbucks and a nilgai pair.”