Haryana to have World’s Largest Safari Park: Spread across 10,000 acres, will have 100s of species

Haryana will develop the world’s largest jungle safari park, that too outisde Africa, the state government said on Thursday. The 10,000-acre curated safari park will come up in the Aravalli range and cover parts of Gurugram and Nuh districts.

“This project will be the largest such project in the world,” the government statement claimed.

“The proposed project will be jointly developed by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change and the Haryana government. The Centre will also provide funds to the state for the project,” said Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar.

Currently, the largest curated safari park outside Africa is in Sharjah, which was opened in February this year in 2,000 acres. The proposed Aravalli park will be five times that size and it will include a large herpetarium (A zoological exhibition space for reptiles and amphibians), aviary/bird park, four zones for big cats, a large area for herbivores, an area for exotic birds, an underwater world, nature trails, tourism zones, botanical gardens and biomes.

A foundation will be set up to manage the project, sources said. The government has shortlisted two international companies for the area development.

Union Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change Bhupender Yadav and Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar visited Sharjah Safari in this regard, the state government said. Khattar reached Dubai on a day’s visit on Wednesday. Upon his return on Thursday, Khattar said the NCR region of Haryana had immense potential for the development of a jungle safari.

The Jungle safari scheme will not only boost tourism but also provide employment opportunities to local residents, he said.