No animals, but crowds continue to flock Byculla Zoo

A zoo without animals ndash that is what the Veer Mata Jijabai Udyan or the Byculla Zoo is right now With the authorities undertaking massive renovation work of the place most animals here have been off display for months upsetting thousands of visitors to the place this holiday season To add insult to injury a board put up at the entrance boasts that 19 species are on display at the zooYet hardly any of these are visible inside Thats not all the board is also placed in such a way that it is almost invisible to visitors The board stating the names of the animals on display is strategically placed facing away from the ticket counter While all the birds named on it are found inside their enclosures mammals and reptiles are missing The emu and hyena are among them so are the ghariyal and crocodileAn empty enclosureWith the number of visitors at the zoo tripling in the holiday season most have been leaving disheartened with no animals to view inside The ticket prices remain steep though at R50 per adult and Rs25 per child despite the absence of animals When midday visited the premises on a humid Tuesday afternoon there was a serpentine doubleline at theticket counter A common complaint among visitors is that if there are no animals on display then the ticket prices should be slashedEmpty cages with doors ajarAs soon as one enters the premises there is a board with seven arrows each accompanied by the names of animals and the direction in which they can be found Of these three names have been covered up with scotch tape The Emu and Hyena names have not been covered though despite them being absentOne filled with construction materialThe Rhesus and Bonnet Monkey enclosure a little up ahead lies empty with the door ajar The Ghariyal and Crocodile pond remains empty too with people waiting patiently in the hope that they will emerge There is no lion tiger or leopard available to view either The enclosure for Barking Deer is empty too This leaves visitors with a handful of birds to view two hippos and some deer And the star attraction of the zoo mdash the Humbolt penguinsMore machinery fewer animalsWhat seems to put off the mood at Byculla zoo further is the presence of heavy machinery and drilling equipment lying all over the place Families have to walk past heaps of iron rods stacks of debris and jump across piles of leaves to move around in the zooThere are long queues at the entrace while the enclosures at the zoo remain emptySunil Naik who visited the zoo on Tuesday along with his 10yearold daughter Riddhi said I had come exactly a year ago with my daughter on Diwali and even at that time there were not many animals to see I thought that maybe this time it will be different but the situation is pretty much the same rather worse He added It doesnt make sense to pay R50 at the entrance Had I known that there are only birds and trees here I wouldnt have enteredKeerti More who was at the zoo with her friends said What kind of a zoo doesnt have lions or tigers or any of the big cats The only animals we have managed to see till now are the two elephantsThousands of visitorsOn an average we have anywhere between 1200015000 people visiting us every day during the Diwali break including adults and children said a zoo official adding that on a normal day there are around 40005000 peopleThe official explained that this surge in influx was a cyclic thing every year during Diwali When asked about the poor condition of the zoo interiors and the lack of animals on display he said All the animals are now in a quarantined area We have the hippo two elephants a jackal some deer and the penguins on display right nowWe have put up a board near the main ticket counter at present stating that due to renovation a lot of animals have been pulled off display said the zoo official In the quarantined area we currently have some aquatic birds the monkeys ghariyal crocodile leopard sloth bear and the emuWhen told that the board has names of animals that are not on display the official said We have moved some more animals into quarantine and I have asked my staff to cancel their names off the notice board tooVisitors are left photographing themselves against the backdrop of the zoos many gardens insteadI would request people coming to visit the zoo to be patient In a couple of months the leopard and the lion and tiger might be back on display Most of the approvals are in hand and some animals like the leopard is already in quarantine We are aiming to make a beautiful and international facility he insisted1215kNo of daily visitors to the zoo during this holiday season19No of species on display according to the notice boardCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates