Safari Park: A safe haven for wildlife

A huge sculpture of dinosaur, left, greets visitors at Safari Park and clockwise from top left are bear, owl, hippopotamus and snake bird in Safari Park at Dulahazra. PHOTO: STAR

The park project was started in 1998-1999 at a cost of Tk 9.90 crore on a 300 hectares of land. Later, 600 more hectares of land were included in second phase, which was completed this year.

The park is now a beautiful sanctuary for wildlife in the country. With good road communications from Chittagong city and beach city Cox's Bazar, it is located at a serene place of Dulahazara at Chokoria Upazila.

Wide varieties of herbivorous and carnivorous animals like lion, tiger, deer, bear and elephant have now found their safe haven here over an area of 900 hectares of land in natural environment.

Separate spacious enclosures were set up for different animals. Sixty hectares of grazing field were allocated for tigers and lions. Besides, enclosures on 50 hectares of land for different types of deer (sambar, spotted, hog) and goyal, eight water reservoirs on 50 hectares for amphibians and guest birds, 20 hectares for bears, 100 hectares for elephant and 10 hectares for crocodiles were also established.

The park has large varieties of trees, shrubby plants, bamboo, climbers and a large orchid house. Colourful collection of orchids is put on show in the orchid house. The park has many observation towers to have a glance of the animals grazing in their enclosures. Riding on a protected minibus, visitors can take the opportunity to see live those ferocious animals. There is also a natural history museum few yards inside the main gate. The remains, specimen and stuffing of about 2000 animals and birds were kept in this museum.

Another attraction of the park is its 'Nature Interpretation Centre. The visitors can get the thrill of an artificial dense forest, once they enter it. At the entrance, there are few murals. Of them one is of a gigantic dinosaur, enough to remind one the 'extra terrestrial' (ET) world. The park has nice accommodation for visitors to stay at night.

More features: background
The evergreen forests of Cox's Bazar once enriched with lofty Dipterocarps, Boilum, Telsur, Civit, Chapalish, Champa and various climber and medicinal plants were endowed with enormous rare wildlife species like elephant, leopard, deer, bear, wild boar, monkeys, flying squirrel and various reptiles. The reptiles include python, fauna like Black Drongo, Hair Crested Drongo, Rufous Nickel Hornbil and White Breasted Kingfisher.

Ever increasing population pressure and poaching resulted in adverse impact on the bio-diversity including wildlife community. The Royal Bengal Tiger became extinct in the forests of Cox's Bazar in far sixties.

A team of Bangladesh Civil Service Forest Association called on the then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for setting up of such a park on November 26 in 1996. She responded positively and ordered the concerned ministry and department to take necessary steps in this connection, sources said.

This safari park was built with a view to saving the wildlife from extinction and helping them in reproduction. It will contribute to research and education as well. In addition, it will also help expand eco-tourism as out-door recreational spots and contribute to protecting the environment through creation of employment opportunities.

Objectives
*To help breeding of major animals like tiger, cheetah, deer, elephant and Hog Deer by conserving them into the park;

*To conserve the extinct or near-extinct animals like ox, lion, bear, crocodiles, gharial, zebra, impala and spring duck;

*To create sanctuary for guest birds;

*To create natural food sources for herbivorous animals by creating grazing ground for them and

*To create scope for eco-tourism, education and research.

Lone hog deer
The Dulahazara Safari Park is now gifted with a rare animal -- country's only Hog Deer (known as Pera Hareen / scientific name Axis porcinus).

"It was collected from Khagrachhari in 2002 and probably it came from India," said Dr Tapan Kumar Dey, project director of the park.

Latest arrival
Twenty-nine freshwater crocodiles of an endangered species, out of 40 collected from Madras Crocodile Bank Trust (MCBT) in India on Friday last, were released on Saturday and these crocodiles added new attraction to the park.

The park authorities, as Dr Tapan said, are contemplating to breed this rare species here in a planned way to enrich the world of wildlife.