Plan for park gathers dust

Plan for park gathers dust
BY AMIT S. UPADHYE
BENGALURU







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While big cats of Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) continue to be restricted to life in small cages, the master plan for the park which aimed to create facilities of international standard for zoo inmates and visitors is gathering dust for the last three years.

The master plan was proposed in 2003 and got subsequent clearances from the Central ministry and state forest department to go ahead with the project at a cost of Rs 20 crore, out of which Rs 4 crore has been spent to establish a butterfly park.

Another Rs 5 crore was taken as loan from Karnataka Urban Infrastructure Development. But the money is still lying unused for the master plan which was to be implemented in three phases.

The park boasts of nearly 1,500 mammals, reptiles and birds and attracts thousands of visitors during weekends and holidays.

The master plan was designed by internationally acclaimed zoo expert Bernard Harrison and about Rs 3 lakh was spent for his two-day visit to the biological park in 2005.

Animal activists pointed out that the initial phase of the plan was confined to civil work around the park and not much attention was paid to the animal enclosures. An interpretation centre was constructed last year, but was not inaugurated as other work has been delayed.

“It is sad to see animals like tigers sharing a small cage with other tigers. Though some of the tigers are let out in the safari area, during feeding time all the tigers need to be inside the cages. It is time to increase the number of cages in the park,” the animal activist said.

Moreover, the tigers here have been deprived of mating. Very few tigers are allowed to mate. Since there is no additional space, park officials are not going for massive breeding programmes. Meanwhile, a team from the Zoo Authority of Karnataka in Mysore is expected to visit the park and the tiger safari area where a mother tiger was mauled to death by its son on Sunday afternoon.