BHUBANESWAR: Visitors to Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) will now get to see the ‘World of Primates’, an exotic anthropoid enclosure complex with seven different species of primates.
Inaugurating the enclosure complex on Sunday, Forest and Environment minister Ganesh Ram Singhkhuntia said the new facility has marked another milestone for the zoo. “It will attract more visitors to the zoo in the coming days,” the minister said.
PCCF wildlife Susanta Nanda said Nandankanan has now earned the distinction of being the only zoo in India to have an exclusive primate enclosure.
Built at a cost of Rs 1.75 crore, the enclosure complex with an area of 13,665 sq ft, will house seven species of primates from around the world, including four cotton top tamarins, three golden handed tamarins, two siamangs, seven black tufted marmosets, five common marmosets, four geoffroy’s marmosets and five squirrel monkeys.
Four of these species - cotton top tamarin, siamang, common marmoset, and geoffroy’s marmoset - are new additions to the park’s animal collection, zoo officials said and added that it now has 10 species of primates with the other three being chimpanzees, hamadrad baboon and tufted capuchin.