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Nandankanan tiger safari yet to recover from cyclone devastation

M I Khan in Bhubhaneswar

Even ten months after a super cyclone hit Orissa, the world's largest white tiger safari, in the Nandankanan Biological Zoo, remains closed to visitors and is unlikely to be thrown open soon. "It is likely to be thrown open in November or December," said zoo director Vinod Kumar.

He said that reconstruction work was yet to be completed and is likely to take another three months. "Until then, it is not advisable to open the safari for visitors," he said.

An official of the wildlife department told rediff.com that the tiger safari was extensively damaged during the cyclone, particularly the fencing. "Repair work of the fencing has just begun," he said. He could not say when the safari would be reopened for visitors.

Last month, the death of 13 tigers, including 8 white tigers, hit national and international headlines. The safari is the major attraction of the zoo. It also has a lion safari.

At present, there are 43 tigers in the safari, 18 of them rare white tigers, and over 50 lions, said senior wildlife conservator S K Mishra. "Before last month's tragedy, there were 56 tigers in the safari," he informed.

Funds crunch and official apathy has delayed the reconstruction work. In the aftermath of the cyclone, the zoo authorities had submitted a Rs 35 million proposal to the Central Zoo Authority. All that they received was Rs 6 million.

The annual assistance from the Centre comes to Rs 14.9 million but the matching grant from the state government is a meagre amount.

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