North India’s largest zoo, Jambu zoo has become a favourite and a new attraction for the visitors. With the arrival of rare animal species like Royal Bengal Tigers, Asiatic Lions, the black bucks, the Gadiyals and others, the zoo is attracting visitors and tourists in large numbers each day. Jambu Zoo is named after the founder of the Jammu city, King Jambu Lochan. The Jambu Zoo is situated at Khanpur, Nagrota, in the outskirts of Jammu City and is spread over an area of 162 hectares (3200 kanals).
The officials revealed that over 2500 visitors show up at the zoo every day. The zoo was conceptualised in 2016 and was inaugurated by the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu & Kashmir, Manoj Sinha on May 29th of this year.
During his inaugural address, the LG had also announced one month free entry for the people visiting the zoo. LG Sinha had said that the scenic beauty around the first-of-its-kind full-fledged zoo in the UT will make it a unique tourist destination and has the potential to boost tourism in the region.
A total of 27 species of the rare animals and birds are to be brought from different states of the country and kept in the Jambu Zoo. Except, Chandigarh, the Royal Bengal Tigers, the Black Bucks and the Asiatic Lions are nowhere in any of the zoos in North India.
“More than 2500 people have been visiting the Jambu Zoo on a daily basis to have a glimpse of the rare animal species namely Royal Bengal Tigers, Asiatic Lions, the Black Bucks, Gadiyals and others,” Amit Sharma, DFO, told Rising Kashmir.
The major attractions in the Zoo include a pair of Royal Bengal Tigers, Asiatic Lions, five pairs of Black bucks (kala Hiran) which have been attracting the visitors.
The officials said that the tourist footfall is more on Saturdays and Sundays. They said that the school students from different areas of Jammu region have also been visiting the Zoo so that students can have a glimpse of the rare animal species.
The parking space at the zoo is parked beyond capacity on a daily basis, the DFO said. With the huge influx of tourists at Jambu Zoo, the government has been earning a lot of revenue. “Over Rs 74 lakhs has been earned as revenue from the tourists in the last five months,” the DFO said.
The rare species of beautiful animals that were brought in Jambu Zoo from other states have turned out to be a blessing as the North India’s largest zoo has become the tourist hotspot of the city of temples.
The tourists from various parts of the country, who come to visit Vaishno Devi, Budha Amarnath andother places in Jammu, are also visiting Jambu zoo in large numbers, the officials said.
The zoo is equipped with a huge parking capacity for the vehicles on a daily basis and vehicles could be seen parked outside the zoo due to paucity of space specified by the authorities. As the winter holidays will be announced soon, we are expecting even more rush at the Zoo given the trend witnessed during the last around one week, the Forester said.
We are planning to get 17 more species of rare animals at Jambu zoo to attract more tourist footfall, the DFO said. The Wildlife Department has put in place 19 animal enclosures in the Jambu Zoo to keep protected the rare and attractive animals’ and birds’ species in the Zoo.
