1,100 visitors turn up as Chhatbir Zoo reopens after nine months

Before, it was closed on March 16 in view of the pandemic, the zoo saw a daily footfall of nearly 3,000.

Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park, popularly known as Chhatbir Zoo, reopened after a gap of nine months on Thursday, welcoming 1,100 visitors on the first day.

Visitors at the elephant enclosure at Chhatbir Zoo in Zirakpur on Thursday. (Gurminder Singh/HT)

As part of safety protocols against Covid-19, the zoo will be allowing 2,700 visitors per day for now. Before, it was closed on March 16 in view of the pandemic, the zoo saw a daily footfall of nearly 3,000.

The main attraction on Thursday was white tigress Diya’s three cubs – Amar, Arjun and Dilnoor, who were born on November 17 last year. Most of the visitors flocked around their enclosure, enchanted by the two male and one female cubs, who have an orange coat unlike their mother.

Zoo field director M Sudhagar said, “We are happy with the response on Thursday and are hopeful of more footfall during the weekend.”

He added that they were following the standard operating procedure to ensure the safety of visitors, employees, workers and animals.

The zoo will remain open from 9.30am to 4.30pm on six days (Monday closed).

Before it was closed in March, it was earning nearly Rs 1.8 lakh a day, and hence, suffered losses to the tune of Rs 5 crore over the past nine months. Hoping to become self-reliant in the next two years, zoo authorities say it will take at least six months to recover from the losses.