Bhubaneswar: Thousands of visitors thronged Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) in the Odisha capital here on the last day of the year (December 31).
The zoo authorities opened additional ticket counters and made all necessary arrangements for the convenience of the visitors.
“Apart from launching the online ticketing system, we have opened 16 offline ticket counters for visitors at the entrance of Nandankanan. Police personnel have been deployed in and outside the zoo to avoid any untoward incident,” said Nandankanan Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Sarat Kumar Sahoo.
The zoo authorities also created awareness among the visitors for safe keeping of their belongings including mobile phones, cameras, vanity bags and wallets.
Long queues of visitors were seen in front of Nandankanan since early morning. Many schoolchildren too visited the zoo.
“We are expecting the footfall of over 50,000 visitors by evening,” Sahoo added.
The authorities had earlier announced that the zoo would remain open on the New Year (Monday). The zoo usually remains closed on Mondays.
At present, NZP has altogether 4,012 animals and birds of 161 species. The zoo has 48 species of mammals, 77 species of birds, 30 species of reptiles and six species of amphibians, sources said.
The authorities of NZP have planned to bring a pair of cheetahs and a few African white lions from a zoo in Dubai in January, 2024.
Notably, a bambusetum was thrown open for visitors and Botanical Garden, located close to Nandankanan a few days ago.
