Zoo Facebook live: Viewership surges

Kolkata: Alipore Zoological Garden's Facebook live viewership has increased significantly after the state Forest department started telecasting the activities of animals virtually.

"We are receiving very good response on Facebook (KolkataZoo Alipore) live videos. We are receiving 2,000 to 3,500 views on our Facebook live videos,' said an official.

State Forest minister Rajib Banerjee inaugurated the live telecast on August 16, 2020 at 3.30 pm from Zoological Garden Alipore, Kolkata.

The initiative comes five months after all the zoos across the state were closed as a preventive measure to stop the spread of Coronavirus.

Visitors, who are not able to visit Zoos in the state, are able to watch the telecast through face book live everyday from 9 – 10 am and 03 – 04 pm.

"People have appreciated this initiative. It is not video or edited video. We are telecasting live. We are telecasting one or two aninals daily so that people can watch the glimpses of activities of the animals," pointed out that official.

In April, Banerjee had also launched visitor friendly mobile app through which 109 species of animals and birds of Alipore Zoological Gardens can be viewed.

The app, named e Zoo Kolkata, has been launched keeping in mind the children who are stuck inside their homes amidst lockdown. Apart from a plethora of still pictures and some videos with description of the animals in both English and Bengali, a 360 degree panoramic view will be available through the app.