Lion safari at Chhatbir facing flood hazard

CHANDIGARH: Lion safari at the Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological park, Chhatbir, is again facing threat due to monsoon.

Zoo authorities and Punjab irrigation department officials are yet to plug the breaches in the wall erected to prevent Ghaggar water from entering the safari display area. Contrary to the claims of zoo officials, who visited the site along with administration officials on Sunday, the wall is in the danger of collapsing.
Besides putting off visitors, due to non-availability of lions in the waterlogged area, it is also posing threat for Gagan and Heni, the Asiatic lion pair brought from Rajkot zoo of Gujrat for increasing the pure breed of lions in Safari here.

To visitors' dismay, citing health problems of the four lions, including the recently brought pair, the authorities have decided to keep them off the show area.

"You can see all other animals everywhere, except lions, which are the only attraction here. What is the fun if you don't get to see lions even after spending money? Why should we suffer because of the laxity of zoo authorities, asked Jivtesh Gupta, a resident of sector 4, Panchkula. Zoo authorities admitted the threat of waterlogging due to Ghaggar breach but claimed that they have made elaborate arrangements to deal with any kind of situation.

"We are monitoring the situation on an hourly basis. We have made elaborate arrangements, especially for Safari. Sandbags have been arranged and zoo keepers have been put on alert," said Basanta Raj Kumar, director zoo, Punjab.
Last year too, zoo authorities had tough time after water came gushing into safari following a breach in the wall. More than 5000 sandbags had to be used to support the wall.