Bhubaneswar: There is a piece of good news for wildlife enthusiasts in Odisha. An enclosure for hoolock gibbons at Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) in the capital city here was thrown open for visitors today.

Forest and Environment Minister Pradip Kumar Amat inaugurated the enclosure at Nandankanan in the presence Bhubaneswar North MLA Sushant Rout, Jatni MLA Suresh Routray, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) SK Popli and other senior officials.

The NZP authorities had brought a pair of hoolock gibbons from Itanagar zoo in an animal exchange programme in July this year.

Hoolock Gibbons are mostly found in the northeastern states of India, sources said.

The minister also inaugurated a souvenir shop, a water lily pond and quarters for Forest Guards deployed at NZP.

The NZP authorities had also received two leopard cats from Itanagar zoo in the animal exchange programme.

The Itanagar zoo had earlier taken a pair each of giraffes and tigers from NZP, sources said.

Notably, NZP has at least 219 enclosures for 4,000 animals of 161 species, sources added.