Nandankanan receives amazing footfall in holiday season

Bhubaneswar: During winter every year the tourism sector in Odisha gets a boost in tourist footfall. Visitors from many parts of India and abroad flock to tourist and picnic spots in our State. The Nandankanan Zoological Park is one such sought after destination during the holiday season.

As the winter vacation has already started, the inflow of tourists has increased in the zoo. Tourists of all age groups are thronging in large numbers to get a feel of the natural environment here.

They are amazed by the presence of a large species of tigers, lions, bears, zebras, giraffes and other animals inside the cage which is pretty much like their natural habitat.

The zoo authorities have also made proper arrangements for the visitors like reverse osmosis (RO) drinking water, refreshment centres and many other facilities. Now there are proper signboards and display boards informing the tourists about the animal present inside the cage as well as where to go if you are lost somewhere inside the zoo.

The zoo remained open on Christmas keeping in mind the heavy footfall on the public holiday. It remained closed yesterday but since early morning today, tourists have started to come in to get a glimpse of the animals in the zoo.

We met a few tourists inside the zoo to know how they feel and why they chose to come to Nandankanan!

“It’s really a peaceful place and we didn’t find any difficulties here,” said 68-year old Bamdev Samantaray.

“The main aim to come here is to see the rare species of animals. The administration has taken proper measures and has made it a nice place to visit,” expressed Nabakishore Behera.

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“Heard a lot about the zoo before and wanted to come here. Saw the white peacock for the first time in this zoo,” said Mukesh who came from neighbouring state Jharkhand.

The zoo received around 24,000 visitors on Christmas but the day before the festival recorded footfall of more than 40,000. Like Christmas, the zoo is expected to be flocked by tourists on New Year's Day as it will remain open this Monday.

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