E-Paper
Monsoon deluge affects Diwali vacation rush at Pune’s Katraj zoo
During the summer holidays in May this year, the zoo fared better with the six-month-old tiger cubs on display, besides jungle cats, leopard cats and giant squirrel, said zoo official.
Heavy rains in the city, that lasted till November 7, led to a drastic drop in tourist inflow during the Diwali holidays, at Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park and Wildlife Research Centre located at Katraj, according to zoo officials.
“The Diwali holidays this year, have not been fruitful for the zoo as there was a dip in visitors as compared to last year. From October 25-31 (Diwali week), we saw a total of 45,575 visitors which included 37,851 adults,7,647 children, 37 foreigners, 28 trips for private educational institutes and 12 physically challenged visitors,” said Rajkumar Jadhav, director of Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park and Wildlife Research Centre.
According to Jadhav, in 2018, during Diwali week (November 5-11) the zoo had 68,449 visitors that included 55,656 adults, 12,670 children, 35 foreigners, 76 government educational trips, and 12 physically challenged visitors.
“The dip in visitors was due to incessant rains that continued to lash the city till November 7. Despite the lion cubs which are now one-year-old and out for display, we had fewer people coming in. Most visitors feared of getting caught in a sudden deluge,” added Jadhav.
According to Jadhav, the revenue earned during the Diwali week, this year was higher than that of last year. This was because the zoo authorities increased the price of the ticket to Rs 25 for adults, as compared to Rs 15 per adult last year. The zoo collected a total of Rs 15,30,480 during 2019 Diwali week.
During the summer holidays in May, the zoo fared better with the six-month-old tiger cubs on display, besides jungle cats, leopard cats and giant squirrel, said Jadhav.
“One of the other reasons for fewer visitors was that the zoo delayed in getting new attractions. We are now looking at adding a white tiger and are awaiting zoo to zoo consent, which will come from either the Hyderabad or Odisha zoo. We have also dispatched a letter to get a male lion from the Indore zoo,” said Jadhav.
