Kankaria Zoo: Nocturnal animals to stay wide awake during the day for visitors

“The zoo timing is such that when the visitors come, all the nocturnal animals are asleep. We are planning to create an environment where they will be awake in the morning and asleep at night,” said director of the zoo, R K Sahu about the unique enclosure that is under construction.

The nocturnal house’s main principle is filtration of light. In the morning, dim light will be spread in the house so that animals remain awake during the day and at night, bright lights will force them to go to sleep. This will be done so that the visitors can watch them active during zoo hours.

“The whole enclosure will be built inside a tunnel. This environment would block the sun’s rays and ensure complete darkness. There would be only dim filtered light, much like moon light, that will create the night-time environment,” said Sahu. CEPT University is the consulting agency for the enclosure.

“Since the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) did not give us an opportunity for night safari, we came up with the idea of the nocturnal house,” said Meghal Arya, associate professor at CEPT. The nocturnal house will resemble the natural habitats of the animals and visitors will be able to see them through the glass barriers. “All the norms and recommendations of the CZA were taken into consideration while designing the house, including possibilities of separating animals as per their behavioural requirement,” Arya added.

The night safari was initially proposed in 2005-’06. But,the CZA did not permit it. “The main reason for the cancellation of the night safari is that after midnight,the whole city becomes isolated. Who would take the responsibility for the safety of the visitors?” said Sahu.

When asked if there will be any adverse impact on the sleeping patterns of the animals, Sahu said, “The change in sleeping pattern is called change in bio rhythm. But the animals won’t face a major problem,because in our zoo,we feed the animals during the day time,which makes them semi-nocturnal. It would be a minor change for the animals.”

The zoo authorities are planning to put in “DEWATS” (De-centralised Waste-water Treatment System) to minimise dependency on municipal water supply and for taking care of large areas of landscaping.

Geothermal temperature control system would be used to provide natural ventilation and ideal temperature for the animals.