Rhinos at Patna zoo. Picture by Ashok Sinha

Patna, March 24: This summer, the rhinos of Patna zoo would have more space to roam around. The zoo authorities are working on a project that would add 1,800sqm in the rhino enclosure.

The state government has sanctioned a fund of Rs 30 lakh for the project. Apart from adding more area to the rhino enclosure, a part of the project fund would be used to fragment one of the existing rhino enclosures thus taking up the total number of enclosures to six. All these works are likely to be completed within a month.

The need of bifurcating one enclosure and adding new area was felt because of increasing number of rhinos and three of them being pregnant.

“All the three pregnant rhinos would be kept in separate enclosures till seven months after birth of the calfves,” zoo director Abhay Kumar told The Telegraph.

He said the additional area would be used to keep rhinos, which are approaching adulthood. “Right now these rhinos have been kept with other adult rhinos but once they attain adulthood chances of infighting would increase and there would be a need to keep them in separate enclosures,” he added.

At present, there are 12 rhinos in the Patna zoo, out of which five are male and the remaining females. Lack of space had also been adversely affecting the mating of adult rhinos. The zoo director said addition of more area to the rhino enclosure was part of the larger plan of setting up a rhino safari in the zoo.

The project entails using six acres for the safari. Rhinos, who at present are kept in enclosures, would be able to have the feel of living in the wild once they are shifted.

The proposed safari would be fenced with solar electric fence from inside to keep the animals confined within the safari limits and the outer portion would be protected with wire mess so that visitors could be kept at a safe distance from the solar electrical fence.

An elevated pathway, too, would be constructed in the middle of the safari and two wooden bridges would be set up in this path for allowing free movement of rhinos on both sides of the safari. Similar kind of fencing, which would be put in place around the proposed rhino safari, would be positioned on both sides of the elevated pathway.

Adding to the comfort of the rhinos, the zoo officials have also taken steps for convenience of visitors during summer. Work has begun to set up five drinking water points — near Gate number 1, railway station, black buck enclosure, in front of bear enclosure and near the botanical garden — inside the zoo. The points would have water filters attached to water coolers so that visitors could get quality drinking water.

At present, there is no such facility in place inside the zoo and visitors have to depend on taps fitted at different places in the zoo.

Kumar said more drinking water points would be added in the zoo in the coming financial year.