Keypoints:
- Byculla zoo will soon be home to the world’s largest snake, the anaconda.
- The zoo will acquire 20 species of snake from India and abroad, including the anaconda.
World’s largest snake is just one in a menagerie of exotic animals the zoo will soon acquire. The zoo will soon be home to the world’s largest snake, the anaconda. Officials have cleared a plan to build a reptile park inside the zoo and sent it to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) for approval. As a part of the plan, the zoo will acquire 20 species of snakes from India and abroad, including the anaconda, which are native to South America.
Dr. Sanjay Tripathi, director of Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan or the Byculla Zoo confirmed that the plan for reptile park is pending with the CZA.The BMC, which controls the zoo, has already awarded funds for the reptile house, near the hippopotamus enclosure, on a ground-plus-one structure spread across 1,500 square metres.The park forms part of the second phase of the zoo’s Rs 120-crore revamp and expansion plan.
Other reptile species that will be acquired include the Indian rock python, reticulated python, the Indian cobra, the rat snake, trinket snake, red sand boa and the common sand boa, among other species to the reptile house. The zoo will also get monitor lizards for the first time. According to officials, the reptiles will either be bought or exchanged for other animals from Byculla Zoo.
Officials said that before the zoo was closed due to the pandemic in March this year, it attracted 15,000 people on weekdays and double that on weekends.In 2016 the BMC came under criticism for importing penguins, two of which have died in the past two years. However, the penguin enclosure, built at a cost of Rs 45 crore, has proved popular with zoo visitors.
The entry fee for the zoo is Rs 50 per head and Rs 100 for a family of four. The zoo charges extra for cameras and videos and the penguin enclosure.”Once we get the CZA approval for the reptile park, then a detailed animal collection plan will be rolled out. We are awaiting the CZA approval. With the lockdown lifted, we are expecting the approval to come soon. The penguins are very popular, and with other exotic species like anacondas, the zoo will become an even bigger attraction for both locals and tourists,” an official said.
Anacondas or water boas are a group of large snakes of the genus Eunectes. They are found in tropical South America. Although the name applies to a group of snakes, it is often used to refer only to one species, in particular: the common or green anaconda, which is the largest snake in the world by weight, and the second longest.
Byculla Zoo, established in 1982, is spread over 53 acres. Seven acres are being added after levelling off the plot that the BMC took over from Mafatlal Mills.
