Chhatbir zoo to get its own Jurassic park soon

Punjab forest and wildlife minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot made the announcement during a state-level function to mark Wildlife Week celebrations at the zoo

The Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park, also known as the Chhatbir zoo, will soon get a dinosaur park complete with six robotic dinosaurs, two of which will also interact with the visitors.

The dinosaur park will come up on the lines of Pushpa Gujral Science City in Kapurthala.

Punjab forest and wildlife minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot made the announcement during a state-level function to mark Wildlife Week celebrations at the zoo on Friday.

The park, to be set up over two acres earmarked in the zoo, has been planned on the lines of the dinosaur park in Pushpa Gujral Science City in Kapurthala. However, unlike the latter, the park will be an open air space with five enclosures amid natural backdrop.

“We have floated the tenders for the park which will be set up on public-private partnership (PPP) mode. Once the tenders are allotted, the park will be made operational within three months. An initial investment of ₹4 crore is expected for the project,” said zoo field director M Sudhagar.

Dharamsot also released a pair of Asiatic lions and a white tigress for public viewing in the lion safari of the zoo as part of the function on Friday.

The lions, Akshit and Driti, and the tigress, Gauri, were brought from the Rajkot zoo in Gujarat in August.

The minister also distributed prizes to the winners of school-level competitions and awarded employees for extraordinary contribution to wildlife conservation.

Dharamsot also launched a zoo club programme for school students, under which the zoo will support government and private school activities for creating awareness on wildlife through subsidised entry fee. Schools can register for the programme online or directly at the zoo.