The display of animals at the city zoo is all set to go into the ‘theme mode’ now that the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has given its nod to the zoo’s master plan till 2030.
Then zoo’s animals would be broadly classified as belonging to the African, Western Ghats and the Kaziranga zones. In this re-contouring of the zoo’s exhibition areas, the enclosures of the birds would play the part of ‘fillers.’
A zoo official familiar with the master plan said here on Sunday that the birds too would be classified into different sections including ‘water birds’ and ‘birds of prey.’ Even though the zoo has considered many a plan for its proposed aviary, a final decision in this matter is yet to be taken.
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“We wanted a walk-in aviary, but we have to see whether it would fit in with our climate. Anyhow the aviary would sport a waterfall which would aerate the water body inside the enclosure,” the official said.
The small pond inside the zoo would serve as a natural habitat for the water birds, he added.
As part of the master plan, work has already commenced on the enclosures for the Malabar Giant Squirrel, the barking deer, the Nilghai and the hyena.
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The new enclosures for the King cobra and that of the anaconda have been completed and are awaiting inauguration.
Meantime, the zoo is poised to get from the Delhi Zoo, a male white tiger and a pair of Goral which is the Himalayan version of the Nilgiri Tahr.
In return, the zoo has to part with a male ostrich, a pair of Rhea, three pairs of Brahminy Kite (Krishna parunthu), a pair of Brown Fish Owl (Kooman), two pairs of Barn Owl (Velli moonga), five bonnet macaques (Naadan kurangu) and a pair of spectacled Caimen (Kannadi muthala).