Bhubaneswar, Dec. 28: The Nandankanan Zoological Park will open an aviary to the public tomorrow on the occasion of the zoo's 55th foundation day.

The aviary has been built on an area of 2,200sqft. The estimated cost of the construction was Rs 60 lakh.

The aviary has been made to give visitors a clear view of the birds. The area has a number of artificial fountains and waterbodies for various species of birds.

'Separate paths for visitors have also been created in the aviary to make sure that free movement of the birds is not disturbed in any way,' said Jayant Dash, deputy director of the zoo.

The zoo authorities have procured three pairs of golden pheasants and two pairs of silver pheasants for the aviary. Besides, Mandarin ducks and lories (arboreal parrots) would also be kept there.

'Special arrangements have been made inside the aviary to help the birds build their nests and lay eggs,' said a zoo official.

Besides, the zoo officials are also planning to put the newborn melanistic or dark-coated tiger for public view on the day. In July, the zoo shot into limelight after a melanistic tiger was born to Sneha, the four-and-a-half-years oldwhitetigress, and Manish, the eight-year-old Bengaltiger.

In another development, a male chimpanzee was born in the zoo today. The chimpanzee was born to Pampeta, the female chimpanzee. With this birth, the total number of chimpanzees in the zoo has gone up to five.

The zoo authorities have also made arrangements for crowd control for the New Year's eve and the first week of January. The authorities have decided not to allow vehicles on the road that connects Kanjia Lake and Botanical Garden. Besides, police have also made arrangements for smooth traffic control at Barang and Nadankanan Square.

A zoo official said that everyday, the average footfall of visitors in the last week of December was around 40,000. 'We are expecting a turnout of more than 50,000 on January 1,' said Dash.

The zoo had opened to public on December 1960, and it is home to more than 1,580 animals and birds now. It came in to limelight in 1980 after whitetigerswere born to normal coloured parents. The zoo also boasts of a white tiger safari, along with lion safari, herbivore safari and bear safari.

The zoo officials claimed that Nandankanan would be the third zoo in the country after Gangtok and Aizawl to have such an enclosure for leopards.'The new enclosure has been built to ensure a better view of the animals as well as safety for them,' said a zoo official.

Besides the zoo authorities have also asked its employees to remain present on the park premises on the New Year day to help visitors. 'We have also instructed the registered guides to help in crowd control,' said another zoo official.