LAHORE: The bird aviary at the Lahore Zoo Safari, which was once full of birds, has now hardly 200 or so birds.

Sources told Dawn that the aviary, which once was one of the most attractive parts of the Lahore Zoo Safari, had lost its charm because of fewer birds. The two pairs of macaws the aviary had died two and a half years ago and the facility did not bring the new macaws.

The iron net sprawling over the aviary is in a state of disrepair as it was last installed in 2005.

The aviary spread over two and-a -half acre has love birds, grey parrots, peafowl, pheasants, cranes, ducks, swans, partridges and other such birds.

Tanveer Janjua, Safari in-charge, said the head office had been informed about the condition of the facility. He said aviary had developed cracks for being old. “We are doing repairs of the net to improve it,’’ said Janjua. He said that in future there are plans that the Safari would remain open till 10pm. And people could visit lion safari at night, he added.

There’s plan to open a food street at the facility to attract more visitors, he added.

Deputy Director Wildlife Headquarters Mudassar Hassan said having exotic birds in the aviary was possible with the availability of funds.

“However, we have brought many new birds in the aviary and we are trying our best to have more beautiful birds.” As the new iron net over the aviary would cost a lot of money, the department had done necessary repairs and it was safe now, he said.

He said landscaping of the aviary was also being done and birds such as pheasants, ducks and peacocks had been inducted in the aviary.

Published in Dawn, August 9th, 2022