Dinosaur replica at bird habitat in Chilika to be dismantled

33 other replica dinosaurs were planned to be installed on the island, a habitat for residential and migratory birds and home to a wide variety of wild plants and butterflies, a senior tourism official said.

He said that the dinosaurs made of fibre would not harm the ecology and have been used in several parks in other states.

Environmentalists, bird lovers and wildlife activists, however, strongly objected to the plan to install the replicas and have asked for dismantling the existing one.

"Our demand is to scrap construction of any kind on the island. The entire Chilika area should not face any human interference being a bird habitat," Biswajit Mohanty, Secretary of Wildlife Society of Odisha, said.

Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations (FIAPO), a collective of animal protection organisations in India, said the erection of the fibre dinosaurs would require labour and machinery which would disturb migratory birds. (MORE)