Lahore; After the upgradation, the Wildlife Safari Park was opened to the public

Lahore: The Wildlife Safari Park has been opened to the public after the upgradation, but due to the imposition of tickets for some of the new facilities introduced here, the visit to the Safari Park will become more expensive due to which the common man will not be able to enjoy these recreational facilities. .

Due to the upgradation project of the former caretaker government of Punjab, the map of Wildlife Safari Park in Lahore has changed. The project, which was completed in three months, cost 2.4 million rupees. Modeled after Singapore zoos, the safari park has natural enclosures for wild animals, the most beautiful of which is the Salt Range Safari.

Apart from this, desert safari, lion and tiger safari, bird aviary, safari of local ungulates, aquarium and hologram museum are important, the management has prepared special vehicles for entering lion and tiger safari with vigodals with iron fences behind them. , while deersafari will have state-of-the-art electronic vehicles. Some sections, including Line, Deersafari and Hologram Museum, are still closed, but the administration says they will be opened to the public before Eid.

These facilities have made the safari park beautiful and the center of attention of the citizens, but now the safari park tour is going to be expensive for the common man. Apart from the entry ticket and parking fee of the Safari Park, tickets for other entertainment facilities including Line Safari, Desert Safari, Hologram Museum will have to be purchased which will be determined by the Punjab Captive Wildlife Management Committee (PCWMC).

According to the information obtained by The Express Tribune, few suggestions were given to the management committee of the Wildlife Safari Zoo in the last few days regarding the tickets, but the committee did not accept those suggestions and directed the management to increase the ticket prices for various facilities in the private parks. After taking the information about the ticket rate should be set.

At present, Safari Zoo entry ticket and parking fee will be charged as before. The entry fee is Rs 60 for adults and Rs 30 for children while the car parking fee is Rs 100 and the motorcycle parking fee is Rs 30 but the ticket rates will be increased in the next few weeks.

According to Punjab Wildlife sources, there will be a slight increase in Safari Park entry ticket and parking fee. According to the sources, it is proposed to set the ticket price of 300 rupees for jungle car for Line Safari Park and electric car for Deersafari.

Separate tickets for electronic swings, boating, horse riding will be retained. The entry ticket fee of Hologram Museum, Aquarium will also be quite high.

While the citizens have praised the safari park upgradation, they have also criticized the hefty tickets. A citizen, Rizwan Shehzad, says that earlier one could sit in a car and take a tour in the Safari Park, but now the vehicles have been restricted to parking only. Now you will have to walk around such a big park, it is very difficult to walk around with children.

A woman, Tahirim Fatima, said that now the entry to the Safari Park is free, only the parking fee has to be paid, while there are tickets for the swings. A child ticket for all swings is Rs.500. He said that if a family of four people comes for fun in the safari park, they will have to pay around 5 thousand rupees for swings, line safari, desert safari and boating tickets for a complete excursion. This includes food. Expenses are not included.

On the other hand, the citizens have also rejected the vehicle made for Line Safari. A citizen, Mohammad Jawad Butt, said that the family that would pay Rs 300 per person ticket would never make their children and women stand in the jungle. These rods are like those used to transport a prisoner or an animal. He said that instead of encasing the vehicle, a glass cabin should be made which should have an air conditioner so that the family can sit comfortably and video and photos can be taken inside the safari.

According to the sources, a pair of tigers had attacked this vehicle in the past few days, the tiger had broken the bumper of the car with its paw while the tigress had torn the tires of the car. These vehicles were attacked by tigers because of the images of tigers painted on them.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Deputy Director of Safari Zoo, Ghulam Rasool, said that the Safari Park covers an area of ​​242 acres. Electronic vehicles will be operated here for the convenience of tourists. Now if these facilities and standards are to be maintained then ticketing will have to be done as at least 25 vehicles will be used.

He said that there was a ticket for some facilities earlier and it will continue to be so. If a citizen does not want to use an electric vehicle or a jungle vehicle, he can roam around the safari park with an entry ticket. However, walking inside the Line Safari, Deer Safari is not allowed as it would be dangerous to do so.