Gazipur Safari Park has been drawing a huge crowd of visitors during the Eid holidays.

Thousands of tourists, including men, women and children, were seen forming a long queue at the ticket counter outside the park since 2:00pm on Eid day.

A similar scene was witnessed today as well.

"I came to the park in the morning with my wife and two children to avoid the crowd. The crowd started from noon onwards. We saw different animals including tigers, lions, bears, giraffes, and zebras, among others in the core safari park," Sadiq Ahsan, 45, a resident of Narsingdi district.

Arafat Hossain from Tangail said, "I brought my family. We had to wait a long time to buy tickets. We visited the Safari Kingdom and saw various types of local and foreign birds -- including macaws, parrots, hornbills, peacocks, vultures -- in the aviary, as well as animals such as elephants, hippos, and crocodiles."

Nazimuddin, who came from Gauripur in Mymensingh with his family members, enjoyed elephant rides with his children after failing to manage tickets for the core safari park.

Karim and Abdullah, two grocery shopkeepers outside the safari park, said there has been no income for a long time when the park was not getting that many visitors.

With the park drawing crowd again during Eid, sales have been good, they added.

"It was a nice experience enjoying the free roaming wild animals and birds in a natural environment one a beautiful day. We enjoyed it very well," said Sadia Zaman of Narsingdi.

Rafiqul Islam, ACF officer-in-charge of the safari park, told The Daily Star on Eid day, "After a long time, so many visitors came to the safari park today. The number of visitors had reduced significantly over the last couple of months. More visitors may come tomorrow. We are working to ensure safety of the visitors."