#Title

A zoo where animals will roam free
After stalling for 2yrs due to pandemic, masterplan to give national zoo a huge facelift near completion
DIPAN NANDY
Caged wildlife being displayed for human entertainment -- this old-age arrangement of ​​the zoo will be scrapped for good. And when that happens, the animals will begin to roam around in an open environment; people will enjoy their sight from a safe distance.
With such an idea, a master-plan is being prepared to transform Bangladesh National Zoo at the capital’s Mirpur.
Mujibur Rahman, acting director and curator of the zoo, told The Daily Star that steps are being worked out to modernise the establishment.
A total of 233 species of animals will be housed on about six hectares of the zoo’s land. Of the species, 102 will be native to the region, 66 will be tropical, 40 African and 15 nocturnal. In addition, 10 species of animals will be at the children’s active zone.
Under the plan, the zoo will be divided into five zones.
A total of 18 hectares of land has been allotted for “Bangladesh Habitat Zone”, which will have the theme of “Mangrove Waterland Forest”; 102 species of native animals will be arranged in an environment like the Sundarbans.
In the “Tropical Habitat Zone”, 14.10 hectares of land will be arranged to act as a tropical forest for 66 species of animals.
For the “African Habitat Zone”, an area of ​​22.40 hectares will be arranged like Namibia’s Kavango region, where animals roam freely. In this habitat, a night safari will operate from 7:00pm to 11:00pm.
A habitat for nocturnal animals will be made in the form of a dense forest covering an area of ​​4.5 hectares.
In the zoo’s active zone, four species of birds and six of mammals will be kept in 10 natural cages or enclosures, covering an area of ​​5.70 hectares, for children’s entertainment, adventure and education.
According to the plan, there will be five walkways across 7.5 km of the zoo, two tram routes running for a total of 2.4 km, and two boating routes stretching for a total of 2.4 km.
Authorities are considering holding bird and dolphin shows at the floating restaurant. There will be alternative routes to facilitate movement of those with disabilities.
Asked when works will begin, Mujibur told this newspaper, “We hope our consulting firm will submit the final master-plan to us next month.”
“After that, we will send project details to the fisheries and livestock ministry, and work will start according to all government rules,’’ he said.
Earlier, former zoo director Abdul Latif Khan was overseeing works of the master-plan.
“We have waited long to make an international-standard zoo. That is why we are preparing this plan, work for which is being done by Bernard Harrison and Friends, the same organisation that did the master-plan for Singapore Zoo,” said Abdul.
In 2018-19 fiscal, work for the masterplan started. However, due to the pandemic, all work was halted for two years. At present, all work has been completed except the plan’s submission.
The master-plan will be implemented on the existing 75 hectares of the zoo’s land. Proper use of the whole place will be ensured, he said.
Work for modernisation will be conducted in three phases in five years. The zoo will not be closed for a single day during work.
Regarding the budget, he said, “We still don’t have the finished masterplan. So, the detailed project proposal (DPP) is not ready. However, Bernard Harrison and Friends told us that it could cost around Tk 1,500 crore.’’
ABM Shahidullah, retired curator of the zoo, told this newspaper, “I know about the master-plan. If all work is done according to the plan, we will be able to see an international-standard zoo. But if the plan is not fully followed, it will not bring all the benefits.”

We have waited long to make an international-standard zoo. That is why we are preparing this plan, work for which is being done by Bernard Harrison and Friends, the same organisation that did the master-plan for Singapore Zoo. We still don’t have the finished masterplan. So, the detailed project proposal (DPP) is not ready. However, Bernard Harrison and Friends told us that it could cost around Tk 1,500 crore.