The National Zoo in Mirpur, Dhaka, has built a jetty and bought two boats to take visitors onto its lake, but months later the rides have not started. The zoo says the boats' engines are too loud for the animals, and zoologists question whether boat trips belong in a zoo at all.

According to the zoo, the jetty, an approach road and a waiting shed cost about Tk 18 lakh and the two boats Tk 17 lakh. Both the building work and the boats were finished in June, after the finance ministry approved the plan on 14 May. Each boat takes 20 passengers, and a ride may cost Tk 100 a person.

Zoo director Md Shahinur Alam told Prothom Alo that they are looking for engines that make no noise and do not pollute the water, but have not found any in several places. If none turns up, lower-noise engines may be fitted. He could not say when rides would begin.

The 186.63-acre zoo opened in 1974 and its two lakes were dug between 1978 and 1980: the south lake covers 32 acres and the north lake 24. Boats will not run on the north lake, which is home to two pelicans, so the rides are planned on the south lake, opposite the children's park.

Mohammad Firoz Jaman, professor of zoology at Dhaka University, said: "This initiative by the National Zoo was not a good one. It should be removed." The lake could instead have been used to keep water birds such as the purple swamphen and white-breasted waterhen, he said; boats would bring noise and crowds and frighten animals in the nearby enclosures.

He added that migratory birds once came to the zoo lake because it was a protected spot, and such safe places are scarce. If boat rides begin, the birds are even less likely to return. The report is by Prodip Sarkar of Prothom Alo.

Source: Prothom Alo