If all goes well, then Delhi Zoo inmates will surely have some new friends. The National Zoological Garden in Delhi is all set to feature some new facilities and more animals to attract the visitors in the zoo.

New features such as interpretation centres and visitors’ room with special facilities for lactating mothers, would be introduced. “We are planning to introduce some new facilities in the Delhi zoo to make it more attractive. Funds won’t be any constraint,” said a senior official of the ministry of environment and forest.

The toy train was introduced in the Delhi zoo in the mid-1970s, but was later withdrawn. “We are planning to revive the facility. A visitor buys a ticket and can then just hop in and hop off in front of an enclosure. The train would stop at various locations,” said the director of Delhi Zoo.

Efforts are also been taken to bring in new animals such as Zebra, Giraffe, Ostrich and the African Lion, among others.“There are some animals such as the African Elephant, Striped Hyena, Slow Loris, Cape Buffalo and a few other birds which have lost their mates. We will try to procure mates for them. We are looking for options,” said Singh.

With regards to educate the visitors there will be an interpretational centre which will have animal models, interactive kiosks and posters. There will be touch screen facilities for the visitors to know more about animal behaviour. 

“We are also planning to screen some short films about animals, keep animal models and play sounds imitating the calls of animals to educate the visitors,” said a senior zoo official.

Educational programmes like bird watching, tree identification, puppet show and clean the zoo will also be a part of the new activities where school children  can be a part of these new ventures. Also to make sure that extreme conditions do not affect many animals, there is going to be a tie-up with MET department so that the department gives them time to prepare for extreme weather conditions.