International zoo experts to help BMC build homes for exotic animals

Mumbai:international zoo experts will be helping the BMC construct enclosures for the new exotic species that will be housed at the Byculla zoo. The move is a part of the ₹200-crore phase 3 of the expansion plan for the zoo. On Thursday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) floated tenders calling for bids to conceptualise, design, and construct 15 animal enclosures at a cost of ₹200 crore on the sevenacre plot adjacent to the zoo which was recently acquired. The enclosures will house cassowary, emu, ostrich, lesser flamingo, black jaguar, cheetah, white lion wallaby, okapi, ring tail lemur, and other exotic animals. These enclosures will be made specially to match the needs of the exotic species, which are used to different temperatures and climates.

The qualifying criteria for bidders requires them to have a memorandum of understanding with an international zoo expert, who understands the special needs of the species. The expert will work as a consultant with the bidder, who is required to specialise in civil construction.

In 2017, a contractor who had bagged the contract to construct Penguin enclosures, was found guilty of forging documents and claiming they had a tie-up with an American firm specialising in handling aquatic species. “BMC will maintain transparency in the tendering process, and scrutinise all documents,” a senior official said. In phase 1, BMC had got eight Humboldt Penguins. Phase 2, which is underway, includes construction of 17 enclosures in the 53-acre zoo premises.

With this move, work on third phase of zoo expansion has begun. The no. of enclosures in the zoo will go up to 32. An aviary for birds will also be built. DR SANJAY TRIPATHI, director of Byculla zoo