Black bears join safari

BIRESWAR BANERJEE, TT, Siliguri: Just ahead of the winter, animal lovers and tourists have reasons to cheer as two Himalayan black bears reached the Bengal Safari Park on Tuesday night.

Officials associated with the park said in all probability, visitors would be able to enjoy the black bear safari after a fortnight.

The park, which is located near Salugara and about 11 km from the heart of Siliguri off NH31, now has an herbivore safari, tiger safari and elephant safari.

"One male and one female black bear from Darjeeling's Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park arrived here on Tuesday night. The animals will remain in quarantine for next two weeks in a separate shelter so that these can acclimatise with the weather conditions and the environment. After that, we will put them in the enclosure and start the safari," said Arun Mukherjee, Director, BSP.

The park has a separate enclosure for black bears, spread over an area of 20 hectares.

Sources said the name of the male bear is Dhruba and its is eight-years-old. The female is Jennifer and aged 17 years.

During their acclimatisation period, they would be provided with fruits, mixed vegetables, chicken and mutton stews in morning.

In the evening, they will get chapatti, rice, fruits and honey, said foresters.

The park is spread over an area of 200 hectares and was inaugurated in January, 2016.

As of now, there are two royal Bengal tigers, several barking deer, spotted deer, sambars, a rhino, six gharials (fish-eating crocs) and birds of different species.

Initially, only the herbivore safari was open to visitors. In January this year, the tiger safari started and on September 25, elephant safari was introduced.

While in all other safaris, tourists travel in vehicles to the enclosures where animals are kept in open, the elephant safari is conducted with pet elephants of the forest department.

State tourism minister Gautam Deb, while visiting the park in April, had said along with the black bears, two more tigers would be brought in and due course, a leopard safari would also be introduced to attract more people.

"The leopards' enclosure is under construction and once it is done, we will release leopards. We expect to start the leopard safari by early next year. As the park is a dream project of the chief minister, we don't want to make any hurried decision and start any new facility without having the proper infrastructure in place," a forester said.

There is also a cafeteria, an aviary and a veterinary hospital at the park.

"The safari park has already got a huge response from tourists as well as residents of Siliguri and surrounding areas. Once the black bear safari starts, it will be an added attraction in the park," Samrat Sanyal, a member of the travel trade fraternity in Siliguri, said.