Sri Lanka’s first open air and 2nd National Zoological Garden opens today
Friday, 17 April 2015 04:45
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Sri Lanka’s first open air and the second National Zoological Garden will scheduled to be opened on Friday, 17 April adjacent to the Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, by Minister of Tourism and Sports Navin Dissanayake.
In line with modern zoo concepts, the Pinnawala Open Air Zoo has been designed and established on 44 acresto provide an open range zoo experience to visitors with free living space for animals and to promote the tourism industry. A worthy fact is the allocation of the zoo for animals endemic to the country. Animals such as leopards, bears, deer and crocodiles will be conserved and an opportunity is afforded to observe their movements.
The expenditure incurred on the Pinnawala Open Air Zoo is Rs.862 million (Rs. 488 million from the Treasury and the rest from the Zoological Development Fund).
Construction of the open-air zoo commenced in 1998. It consists of two zonal areas, Sri Lankan Zone and World Zone. The Sri Lankan Zone is allocated for local animals and is home to a rich variety of wildlife species, includingleopards and different species of native animals and birds.
