Tirupati: Lions Safari reopens at SV Zoo

Tirupati: Animal lovers thronged Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park in Tirupati on the New Year Day to have a pleasant time watching various species there.

Much to their delight, the Lion Safari which used to get good patronage before its closure on March 20 last year due to Covid pandemic has been reopened on the first day of the New Year on Friday.

The visitors were surprised when they came to know that the Lion Safari was thrown open and queued up at its counter to get their tickets to watch the lions while they roam around in their own environment. The Zoo authorities have made arrangements anticipating more rush on New Year day.

In view of the Covid pandemic, only nine persons were allowed in each vehicle going into the Safari instead of the usual 18 persons. In view of this, to meet the extra rush, they arranged more vehicles. A young visitor Revathi felt elated by watching the Safari and described it as a thrilling experience to watch lions from such a close distance and enjoyed it well. Another student Nithin Krishna said, "Visiting zoo park is always special and Safaris will give extra thrill. It's a different experience to watch animals roaming in open air while we move around within the grills."

Zoo curator M Hima Sailaja told The Hans India that the response on the initial day was good. A sum of Rs 4.67 lakh was collected on Friday from around 4,000 visitors. In view of the heavy crowd on the occasion of New Year, two-wheelers were allowed inside the park at Rs 200 per vehicle including entry tickets for two persons.

To a question, she said that though only lion and deer safaris are there now, efforts were on to introduce White Tiger Safari and Night Safari in future. In fact, Night Safari will become a biggest attraction in the zoo park being developed on a mythological theme highlighting the role of wild animals in our ancient scriptures. Needless to say that area wise this zoo is the largest in Asia where wild animals are displayed in vast enclosures nearer to their natural habitat.