Wings of colours: Butterfly House to be opened next week at Jallo Park

LAHORE:

Lahore will have the country’s first Butterfly House at Jallo Park. The Rs70 million project will open to the public next week.

Parks and Horticulture Authority Director General Mian Shakeel Ahmad told The Express Tribune the authority had developed the butterfly aviary over 16,500 square feet.

Ahmad said that apart from some foreign species, Butterfly House would have 35 to 40 local butterflies. “The project is in the test phase. It aims at educating the public about the colourful creatures,” said the director general. He said the PHA had developed the aviary from its own resources.

Ahmad said the PHA had earlier imported some species from the Central American state of Costa Rica but the butterflies did not survive. Now the authority plans to import some species from Thailand, he said. The PHA chief said the authority had planted thousands of plants to provide a natural ambience. “A museum, a waterfall, a stream, an aquarium and a souvenir shop are part of the project,” Ahmad said.

He said the PHA had also developed a larvae-rearing chamber to increase the population. The aviary is equipped with an environment control cooling and heating system ensuring a suitable atmosphere for butterflies and visitors, he said.

The CM approved the project in July last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2015.