The lion safari has been shut for nearly a year, as authorities at Sanjay Gandhi National Park were repairing the fences; now the expansion of the safari area is expected to take another six months
Tourists will have to wait longer than expected for the lion safari at Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) to resume. It has been almost a year that the safari has remained shut due to repair work of the fences along the safari area in the beginning, and increasing its area later.
Also read: Tourists to miss spotting the lion at SGNP this summer
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Lions may soon be transferred into secondary cages for tourists to see
While the SGNP authorities told mid-day that it would take around a month to complete the work, sources revealed that resuming the safari could take six or more months.
“We will soon be releasing the lions in the secondary cages as the work of the secondary cages is complete. The work of increasing the area of the lion safari is in progress and we will try to complete it in a month’s time so that lions can be released in the safari,” SGNP Director Vikas Gupta told mid-day.
However, sources from the park told mid-day that it would take more than six months to complete the work and till then tourists would have to see lions in the secondary cages as soon as they are moved there.“The main reason behind the delay is that when the repair work was about to finish, the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) raised objections regarding the area of the lion safari and asked the authorities to increase it from 30 to 50 acres,” said a senior SGNP official.
Tourists can still catch a glimpse of tigers since the tiger safari remains open for public. Mira Road resident Amita Palav, who had visited the park few days back with her family, said, “We had gone to the park to see the lion and tigers and we were fortunate to see a tiger but could not see a lion. It was really disappointing. I think the park authorities should complete the work at the earliest, as the lion safari is one of the important attractions for tourists.”
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