MoEFCC pushes for night safaris in zoos, backed by global tech expertise

New Delhi: You may no longer need a forest reserve to experience a night safari–zoos might do the trick.

The ministry of environment, forest and climate change (MoEFCC) is planning to set up a committee to surveil night safari in zoos. It will come up with guidelines with the help of technological expertise from Singapore, two officials said.

As of now, night safaris are allowed only in the buffer zones of some national parks, in order to not disturb the wildlife and avoid human-animal conflict.

Night safaris were ended inside forest reserves as they were affecting the wildlife in Kanha, Pench and Satpura Tiger Reserves. 

Recently, a Lucknow-based social activist Alok Singh approached the NGT raising concerns over night safaris in Kukrail reserve forest in the state capital for which around 1,500 trees are proposed to be felled. 

A detailed project report (DPR) of the night safari is coming up on a 900-acre maple leaf design in 2027. 0.46-hectare Kukrail forest, was presented before chief minister Yogi Adityanath on 19 November, roughly two years after its digital survey in December 2022.

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“We are making up a sub-committee to prepare the guidelines for the zoo. Right now, we have guidelines for protected areas, not for the zoo. Whatever night safari was being conducted that was in the buffer area of national parks,” one of the officials cited above said.

“The objective behind coming up with guidelines for night safari in zoos is to end the poaching and give a different experience to visitors. Another is having an eye that helps in protection,” the official explained.

“There are many proposals to establish night safaris here in India. So, this will be a separate set of guidelines, seeking technological expertise from Singapore,” the official added.

One problem in zoos is lack of proper illumination in large enclosures.

“So, we need to have that sort of illumination which doesn’t disturb the biological cycle of the animals as well as giving visitors a certain experience where they can see the animal. In that case, the dimensions of the enclosures must be different because the enclosure is very large and if the animal goes to one corner of that enclosure, the visitor may not be able to see. Therefore, there must be a different design, a different set of illumination, like in the theatre, like how the stages’ lighting is done,” the other official explained.

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Queries sent to the secretary and spokesperson of MoEFCC on Thursday remained unanswered at press time.

India is home to a few national parks that offer night safaris, giving visitors a rare glimpse of the nocturnal lives of wildlife. They allow visitors to observe animals in their natural habitat after dark, which is when they are most active. Bandhavgarh, Pench and Kanha are some national parks that offer night safaris.

“You cannot do any commercial activity, but this is something which is needed for conservation education,” said Debadityo Sinha, senior fellow and lead at the climate & ecosystems team of Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

“We should first consult species experts about areas we are planning this kind of safari, and the kind of wild animal that is living there. It should not be just iconic animals like tigers or big animals because most animals like nocturnals are shy and they want to avoid human presence. How it affects ecology is something which scientists can tell you. That’s why the first thing is that we should do a wide assessment properly,” Sinha recommended.

“Secondly, there should be some pilot studies to understand how wildlife behaves at night and consult species scientists as they are the best people to tell you how to do it if you want to do it,” Sinha added.

And read | Maharashtra Pench Tiger Reserve becomes India’s first Dark Sky Park. All you need to know