Jharkhand got its first open-air butterfly park at Ranchi which forest officials claimed to be the largest in the eastern region on Tuesday.

Additional chief secretary forest, environment and climate change, Jharkhand, L. Khiangte inaugurated the park constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore and spread over nearly 20 acres of land inside the Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park (popularly known as Birsa Zoo) in Ormanjhi block, around 25km from Ranchi.

Birsa Zoo director Jabbar Singh said it was the biggest open-air butterfly park in the eastern region.

“It is the biggest open-air butterfly park in the eastern region and we hope that it will become a tourist attraction in the years to come.

“It has a recorded number of 80 species of butterflies and one can see over 50 species at one time. For the sake of visitors we have constructed a conservatory, breeding
points, nursery, pond (to maintain humidity and for aesthetic value), gazebos, selfie points and pathways,” said Singh.

Host and nectar plants have been planted for their food, while a conservatory of about 800 square feet has been built.

Several nurseries have also been developed for breeding butterflies, where butterflies are laying larvae and eggs.

The park has most of the species found in Jharkhand like twin coaster, sergeant, bush brown, baronet, plain tiger, lemon pansy and common sailor.

“The park aims at imparting educational values along with entertainment to butterfly lovers, development work for the first phase has almost been completed at an estimated cost of Rs 2 crore. The construction has been completed in two phases and the second phase took two years to complete,” said Singh.

The butterfly park will have display boards for visitors to identify different breeds and learn interesting facts about them.

“Butterflies will automatically come if they find a suitable habitat filled with colourful plants. We will arrange for excursions of students. We will try to develop it as a tourist spot as well,” the zoo official said.

“We would also make visitors aware of the importance of butterflies in ecology. Butterflies have an important role to perform in promoting awareness of the increasingly urgent need for biodiversity in the terrestrial ecosystem. The presence of butterflies in good numbers is an indicator of a perfect natural environment,” said Singh

Incidentally, work on this project started in 2020. The project was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The maintenance of the butterfly garden will cost Rs 25 lakh annually.

East India’s largest aquarium is already established next to the park.

Significantly, Birsa Zoo spread over 104 hectares in Ranchi’s Ormanjhi area has about 1,450 animals belonging to 83 species of mammals, reptiles and birds.