BENGALURU: If all goes well and if the animals bond well, the most awaited and dedicated leopard safari will soon start in Bannerghatta Biological Park.
Even as forest, environment and ecology minister Eshwar Khandre on Thursday directed the forest department and zoo management officials to start the leopard safari soon, on the lines of lion and tiger safari, the officials in BBP said that it all depends upon the bonding of the animals and how fast they get trained. “If all goes well then the safari can be thrown open for people in a month and half’s time. But if the model code of conduct is implemented, then it will be open to people in May or after the code of conduct is lifted,” said an official from the department, not wanting to be named.
BBP has carved out 20 hectares of land in its area for the safari. The management has set up high rise mesh and kept tall trees away from the fences, not wanting to give any room for the animals to escape.
“Unlike tigers and lions, leopards are very agile and very tricky to deal with. They find any possible route to escape. So all angles have been explored when creating the enclosure. The area has space to house 20 leopards, but right now houses around 12,. which are being made to get accustomed to each other so that there is no fighting. The leopards that have been kept have divided themselves into two groups, with six in each. They need time to gel with the others,” said the official.
All the leopards that will be kept on display are within one year of age and are hand reared in the zoo. They are the rescued ones brought by forest department staffers or individuals from fields, when they were within two months of age.
According to the records, there are 70 leopards in BBP, 19 tigers and 19 lions in the zoo.
More staffers to be hired; miscreants to face dire consequences
At the meeting with forest department officials, Khandre directed the officials to hire more staffers including temporary staffers. He also directed the officials to ensure that their wages are paid to them on time without any delays. He directed the officials to ensure payments to staffers in the special task forces is also not delayed.
He also warned miscreants of dire consequences for setting fire to forests and told the officials to take stern action against those found guilty. Pertaining to the joint survey report on forest encroachment, the minister also told the officials to put the report on public domain for all to access.