CS for developing Jambu Zoo at par with international standards

JAMMU : Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo, on Friday visited the Jambu Zoo to take first hand appraisal about the works being executed there besides assessing the facilities being extended to the visitors.

The Chief Secretary was accompanied by PCCF/Chief Wildlife Warden, Sarvesh Rai; Regional Wildlife Warden, Jammu, Jyotsana; Additional Director, Jambu Zoo, Anil Atri and other senior officers of the department.
During his visit, the Chief Secretary inspected various animal enclosures, visitor’s facilities and reviewed the ongoing developmental works at the zoo.
The Chief Secretary expressed his vision for Jambu Zoo to achieve recognition at par with other prominent zoos of the country and of the Interactional standards. He emphasised the need for devising a comprehensive developmental plan for future expansion of the zoo including creation of other educational, recreational and animal welfare facilities and enhancement of overall appeal of the zoo.
To ensure that Jambu Zoo meets global standards, the Chief Secretary suggested deputing zoo officers to prominent national and international zoos for training and exposure for advanced management practices and technology intervention. This will enable them to contribute significantly towards achieving excellence in zoo’s development and management, he added.
The Chief Secretary also stressed the importance of increasing the Zoo’s footfall through innovative strategies and public engagement programs in addition to animal collection in the zoo.
During the interaction, the Chief Secretary was apprised by the zoo management regarding the need to further augment the field staff there supported by a dedicated engineering team too. It was added that enhancing battery operated vehicle fleet and veterinary expert team for the zoo would increase the appeal of this facility manifold.
The Chief Secretary assured his support in addressing these issues and instructed the concerned authorities to complete the new animal collection process including completion of species specific infrastructure at the earliest.
Earlier, the Chief Secretary was briefed by the Chief Wildlife Warden about the existing 17enclosures in which different species of wild animals like tiger, lion, leopard, himalayan black bear, black buck, snake chambers and crocodile have been kept for public display. He was also informed that 13 different animal enclosures have been undertaken for construction during 2024-25. The prominent species to be housed in these enclosures will be hippopotamus, ostrich, indian gaur, hyena, wolf, fishing cat etc. A walk through aviary is also in the construction stage where number of beautiful native as well as exotic species of birds shall be kept.
The future expansion plan of this Zoo was also explained to the Chief Secretary in which 18 different animal enclosures will be constructed. The prominent species to be housed in the prospective plan shall be brown bear, snow leopard, zebra, giraffe, rhino, markhor, red panda etc.
It was divulged that a herbivores safari shall also be developed in the coming days to add more attraction to the Jambu Zoo and to raise it to the level of large zoos.