Bhagwan Birsa Biological Park has begun the trial run of an automated gate system based on RFID (radio frequency identification) technology which will not only get rid of paper tickets, but also help in keeping a perfect count of visitors at the zoo throughout the day.

A park source said a Noida-based company was installing the system and the entire process was likely to be completed by the end of this month.

“Once the technology is introduced, visitors will be given cards having embedded microchips instead of a paper ticket. This will help zoo authorities to know exactly how many visitors are there in the park at any point of time. In the long run, it will help in cutting costs,” a zoo official said, adding that the system has been introduced on an experimental basis.

Park director Venkateshwar Lu said as many as 10,000 microchip cards were being brought for the purpose.

“Each visitor will enter the park with the card and hand it over to the authorities while exiting. The cards will be different for children and adults. Apart from this, the number of gates is also being increased from one to four. It will help in reducing crowd at the entrance. Manual checking of tickets will no longer be required,” Lu said.

Spread over an area of 104 hectares, the park is located at Chakla (Ormnajhi) near Getalsud Dam on Ranchi-Ramgarh Section of NH-33, around 20km from here.

It was established to save endangered wildlife species found in Jharkhand as well as generating awareness among people to conserve wildlife. The park witnesses a footfall of around 10,000 people daily.