Wildlife Expansion: Bhopal's Van Vihar National Park Yet To Get Financial Approval To Get Animals From Foreign Countries

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Two ambitious projects of wildlife expansion in Van Vihar National Park are in limbo over financial and other approvals. The Van Vihar authorities are waiting with fingers crossed, hoping that their two projects of bringing zebra, giraffe and lions get realized soon. 

Under its first project, the national park intends to bring zebras and giraffes from some other country. The second project is to get Asiatic Lions from a zoo of Gujarat under animal exchange programme. Deputy director of Van Vihar, Sunil Kumar Sinha said the project that aims to bring zebra and giraffe from some other country is hanging in the balance as financial approval for the same has not been received so far.

A senior IFS officer said that to bring zebras and giraffes from other countries required a lot of money as they have to be brought via sea route. Van Vihar had sought a whopping Rs 3 crore for the project. People having knowledge of the matter said the project envisages bringing five Zebra and three Giraffe from West Asian Countries or European nations. War-torn Israel too has many zebra and giraffe and also boasts of a safari.

The Van Vihar authorities have suggested other countries, including Iran and Iraq, which also have these two species in large numbers. The government's financial approval is the only bottleneck in the entire project. Currently, in Madhya Pradesh, only Indore Zoo has a pair of Zebra which was brought under animal exchange programme from Jamnagar of Gujarat.

As far as Giraffe is concerned, the state doesn’t have it in any of the parks or zoos. Van Vihar will witness tourists’ surge if it manages to get giraffe and zebra. Even the national park’s second project to get Asiatic Lion from Gujarat is also hanging in balance. The park which wants to give Asiatic lion to Van Vihar in exchange of Royal Bengal Tiger is yet to get the necessary approval from Central Zoo Authority.