Located in the urban jungle, Byculla’s Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Udyan and Zoo welcomed 58,555 visitors in the past three days, the highest since its reopening in February. The considerable surge in footfalls brought Rs 21,51,000 lakh revenue to the BMC, which charges an entry fee of Rs 50 per person. Swarms of visitors, mostly kids, thronged the zoo owing to summer vacations which coincided with a three days holiday from May 14-16.
Popularly known as Rani Baug, the zoo was shut for a month during the pandemic’s third wave and reopened in February. However, the average footfall on weekdays ranged from 4,000-5,000, while it swelled to 15,000-18,000 on weekends.
On Saturday, 17,617 people visited Rani Baug, while the figure rose to 26,111 on Sunday. The crowd consistency was maintained on Monday, too, as the zoo was visited by 14,827 people.
Elated over the high footfalls, zoo director Dr Sanjay Tripathi said, "Expecting more visitors on weekends we increase security in the zoo area on those days.”
While the zoo has added several animals like Bengal tigers, bear, leopard in the last two years. But the kids were mesmerised by Veera, the tiger cub and baby penguins Oscar-Oreo.
