Howrah to have mini-zoo this winter

The 18-acre deer park in Garchumuk of Howrah will soon be upgraded to a mini-zoo housing crocodiles, turtles, exotic birds, blackbucks and birds.
"The Central Zoo Authority has sanctioned our master plan to upgrade the deer facility to a mini zoo. The work to upgrade the park is on in full swing as we are trying to open it to the public by this winter," Howrah Divisional Forest Officer Majedar Rahaman told PTI.
The proposed mini zoo would also be a rescue centre for animals seized from wildlife smugglers or rescued as stray, he said.
This region of the country had recently become a hub for illegal trade of wild animals and hundreds of species were being seized throughout the year, Rahaman said.

"Now the animals seized from smugglers are being kept in the Alipore Zoo or at rescue shelters in Salt Lake, but their capacities have become full. Hence the need for another facility which will be a mini zoo," another official said.
Rahaman said that around four to five small-sized crocodiles would be kept in the 400-square-metre pond inside the park. There will also be enclosures for deer and other animals and an aviary for exotic birds.
"We will bring in the reptiles from the Bhagabatpur Crocodile Project in the Sunderbans to the Park. We would also bring in more than 250 exotic birds seized in January, 2014," Rahaman said.

Around 10,000 terrapins seized at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport in 2013 would get shelter at the proposed mini-zoo, he said.