By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Feb. 16: The Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) is set to construct two zoological parks in two different parts of the country.
Bhanu Zoological Park, poised to be the largest semi-open zoo once completed, is going to be constructed in Tanahun district. The park will cover an area of Ward Nos. 5 and 6 of Bhanu Municipality and Ward Nos. 11 and 12 of Byas Municipality, spreading over an area of 425 hectares. Its master plan has reached the Ministry of Forests and Environment seeking final approval.
Process to prepare Detail Project Report (DPR) will begin after the master plan gets a nod from the government, said Haribhadra Acharya, information officer of DNPWP.
The government, which decided to construct the park on May 1 of 2017, has allocated Rs. 80 million last fiscal year for the master plan.
In addition to that, a consultant has been hired to prepare the DPR report of another National Zoological Garden in Suryabinayak Municipality. Also a semi-open zoo, it will cover an area of 245 hectares of land of seven community forests of Suryabinayak, Gundu, Sipadol and Katunje, in addition to the government-owned land.
“An office building of DNPWC has already been constructed and works related to the park has started,” he said, adding, “Fencing of the pooled area is underway.”
A Cabinet meeting held on February 12, 2015 had decided to construct the zoological garden there. A year after that decision, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli had laid its foundation stone on June 23, 2016.
“Our plan is to enable wild animals found at home thrive there, and bring home from abroad those not found here. Being kind to wild animals is our first priority,” he said.
Legions of wild animals at a single place will provide a host of opportunities to many researchers researching them, he added.