The reptile house at Alipore zoo was reopened on October 20 after remaining shut for renovation for four years. The necessity of an overhaul arose after a prod from the Central Zoo Authority. Some of the suggestions the regulatory body made to the West Bengal Zoo Authority included making the reptile house brighter, more spacious and airy, and increasing the distance between the visitors and the enclosures.

revamped reptile house

The new reptile house with 15 glass enclosures and an open-air enclosure (foreground) which now houses six Monitor Lizards. Pictures by Bishwarup Dutta and Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee in front of the glass enclosures after unveiling the revamped reptile house on October 20

A monitor lizard and a board bearing the name of the species displayed at the top of the enclosure

A python in the new reptile house

The upgraded enclosure is home to members of 15 species, staying in 16 enclosures spread over a 1,500sq m circular space. The enclosures are all glass-fronted except one, which is open-air and houses six Monitor Lizards.

The revamp is part of a bigger plan, that saw the setting up of an aviary, a glass enclosure for tigers and a ticket plaza. Metro tours the new reptile house to find out what’s good and what’s not.

Added attraction

The renovated reptile house has only two new attractions to offer in terms of its inhabitants, Geckos and Monitor Lizards, which have been attracting a lot of eyeballs since the October reopening.

A former director of the Alipore zoo feels the authorities should have scouted for more species in the four years the reptile house had been shut for renovation.

“At the National Zoological Park in Delhi, they have Sand Boas and Rat Snakes,” he said.

Crocodiles and alligators, which were earlier inside the reptile house, have been shifted to separate enclosures.

“Crocodiles and alligators are huge and require a bigger space. This is why they have been shifted,” said a zoo official.

Better enclosures

The enclosures in which the reptiles have been kept are bigger and brighter. The revamped reptile house has been designed in a way that more natural light enters the enclosures.

“Earlier, the reptile house used to be dark. Young children were scared of going in. The new one is very bright with sunlight entering from all around,” said the former director of Alipore zoo.

“We have a diverse collection of reptiles that can survive and breed in these conditions. Instead of just exhibiting the reptiles in boxes, we have tried to create the ecosystem the reptiles are comfortable in,” said zoo director K.L. Ghosh.

In the earlier reptile house, the inmates were kept in small and cramped glass boxes. Visitors often did not get a proper view of the reptiles.

In each enclosure in the revamped house, there are shrubs and a miniature moat. The enclosures have insects and small fish in the moats for the reptiles to feed on.

“Our keepers are trimming the shrubs on a regular basis to ensure they don’t block the view of the reptiles,” said Ghosh.

Amit Mitra, who visited the reptile house with his 12-year-old son and eight-year-old daughter a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee unveiled it, was not very impressed with the new arrangements.

“The place was shut for renovation for four years but what we have finally got is not good enough. With so much time and space at their disposal, they could have done a better job,” said Mitra.

Extra legroom

Not just the reptiles, visitors have more room to move around, too. The new reptile house is almost double the size of the old one. “A lot of open space has been carved out while redesigning the reptile house, in keeping with the Central Zoo Authority’s guidelines,” said an official. There is an almost 2ft gap between the glass enclosures and the spot where visitors stand to see them. The house, however, is still not roomy enough for the peak season turnout of 75,000 to 1 lakh a day.

Information panels

The labelling of the reptiles is tidier, and more legible and informative. All the 15 enclosures have two information panels each on the top.

One panel carries the name of the reptile in English and Bengali, along with its scientific name. The second panel contains crucial bits of information about the reptile, like the regions the species is found in, and its habitat, diet and gestation period.

For example, a panel on the enclosure of Monocellate Cobra says the venomous snake is found in India, Bangladesh, China, Laos and Thailand; feeds on frogs, toads, mice and small birds; inhabits wetter places like paddy fields and grasslands; and lays at a time 10-15 eggs that hatch in 60-70 days.

“One of the main objectives of the zoo is to educate children about non-human living beings. In the renovated reptile house we have tried to provide as much information as possible about the reptiles kept inside,” the zoo director said.

But the best reptile houses in the world go much further. Experts consider the reptile houses at the London and Singapore zoos to be more innovative and modern.

“At the Singapore zoo, children under the supervision of trained keepers get an opportunity to feed reptiles like Aldabra Tortoise, which are not considered dangerous, and non-venomous snakes. The reptile house in London has a lighting system that enables visitors to stand in relative darkness to see the reptiles in lit-up enclosures. Space constraints and the Central Zoo Authority rules do not allow us to put in place such systems,” said a state official.

Some of the species in the new reptile house

• Yellow Monitor
• Land Monitor
• Water Monitor
• Tokay Gecko
• Indian Star Tortoise
• Monocellate Cobra
• Russell’s Viper
• Rock Python ]
• Indian Python
• Rat Snake
• Banded Krait