PATNA, April 14 -- In a significant push to expand wildlife conservation and eco-tourism infrastructure, the state environment and forest department has sent detailed proposals to the Central Zoo Authority of India for setting up two new zoological parks in Gaya and Araria districts. Environment and forest minister Pramod Kumar announced the move on Monday, saying around 120-150 acres of forest land have already been identified in each district. "Raising infrastructure for the zoos will start once the CZA gives its nod to the proposal," he added. Officials said nearly 150 acres along the banks of the Falgu river in Gaya Ji and over 120 acres in Raniganj area of Araria have been shortlisted for the projects. The proposals mark a major step forward in the state's long-pending plan to strengthen its network of zoological facilities beyond the existing Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna and the Rajgir Zoo Safari in Nalanda district. The idea of new zoos was first floated early last year by then forest minister Prem Kumar, now the speaker of the Bihar assembly, after he visited Tamil Nadu and saw its robust network of six zoological parks serving a population of nearly eight crore. "Why can't Bihar afford to have more zoos when Tamil Nadu has six?" Prem Kumar had asked at the time, prompting the formation of a committee of Indian Forest Service officers to study feasibility. A forest department official said the committee's recommendations had paved the way for not just the two immediate proposals but a broader vision of four additional zoological parks. The department is already examining suitable forest land in Sasaram and Munger districts. "We have sufficient forest land to set up zoos there," the officer noted. Bihar's only major zoo at present is the Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna, popularly known as Patna Zoo. Established as a botanical garden in 1969 on land partly donated by the then governor, it was developed into a full-fledged biological park and opened to the public as a zoo in 1973. Spread over 153 acres, the park today houses over 800 animals representing around 110 species, including tigers, leopards, clouded leopards, Indian rhinoceros, hippopotamus, elephants, giraffes, zebras, chimpanzees and various reptiles and birds....