Animal lovers and adventure sports buffs will have more reasons to visit the Bengal Safari Park, the only wild animal safari park in the state located on the fringes of Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary, as authorities will soon introduce a number of adventure sports activities there.

Park director Dawa Sangmu Sherpa said on Monday that they have readied the infrastructure for a zipline ride and a Burma bridge, known to be popular among those who love adventure sports.

“Our infrastructure is ready. Right now, we are training an eight-member team of our staff to run these facilities for visitors. For the training, we have taken help of experts of the (Darjeeling-based) Himalayan Mountaineering Institute. We want to ensure all necessary safety measures are maintained when visitors use these facilities,” said Sherpa.

The zipline ride is an adventure sport where a moving pulley is used to ride both ends of an inclined cable. A participant is tagged with the pulley through a cable.

At the park, there are two zipline rides. The short one is around 56 metres long. The length of the longer ride is 76 metres.

A 25-metre-long Burma Bridge is the other attraction. It is a rope-walking activity where one has to walk on ropes placed around 60 feet above the ground while holding the entangled ropes placed on both sides for balance.

The safari park, which is around 10 kilometres away from Siliguri, has emerged as a major crowd puller in the region. It offers a number of safaris on battery-run vehicles to different enclosures and also a safari on elephant back.

The park has animals like royal Bengal tigers, Asiatic black bears, leopards, gharials, a rhino, different species of deer and birds.

“Our objective is to introduce new activities at the park to attract students and youngsters and develop their interest in adventure sports. We feel the new facilities will begin by April ahead of the Bengali New Year,” the director added.