Sri Jayachamarajendra Zoological Gardens, popularly known as Mysuru Zoo, reopened for public after a gap of 11 months on Monday. District In-charge Minister S T Somashekar and Mandya M P A Sumalatha reopened the zoo, by offering puja to the idol of Chamundeshwari Devi.
The minister adopted two elephants and a lion in the name of Kannada actors Rajkumar, M H Ambareesh and Vishnuvardhan. He said that this is the right time to pay tributes to the actors and the animals are adopted for a period of one year, as mark of respect to the actors.
While an Indian elephant was adopted in the name of Rajkumar, the African elephant was adopted in the name of Ambareesh. Lion was adopted in the name of Vishnuvardhan, popularly known as Sahasasimha.
Minister Somashekar has raised a total of Rs 3.23 crore in four phases, as the zoo had no revenue due to lockdown, following the outbreak of Covid-19.
He had urged his supporters and colleagues to donate funds as the zoo had no sufficient funds to feed animals during the lockdown.
Minister for Food and Civil Supplies K Gopalaiah donated Rs 8 lakh, Infosys Foundation donated Rs 22 lakh, following a request by the minister. Similarly, Association of Kannada Kootas of America (Akka) has collected Rs 40 lakh for the zoo. Akka former president Shivamurthy Keelara handed over a cheque to the officials on Monday.
According to zoo Executive Director Ajit Kulkarni, the zoo is a self-sustained organisation, as it does not receive any funds from the state government since 2002. “The zoo needs financial support from the government, as there is no income. The funds from selling tickets and funds from the animal adoption scheme are the major sources of income for the zoo,” he said.
The zoo has 152 species of birds and houses more than 1,450 specimens belonging to 168 species, representing more than 30 countries.
According to zoo director, people can adopt animals under the adoption scheme, online. All details are available on the zoo website. The people can pay the fee online, he said.
As the minister raised Rs 3.23 for towards the zoo, a plaque carrying his name has been erected at the main entrance. It was unveiled on Monday.
The director said, “In order to maintain the crowd, entry of visitors to the zoo is limited to 8,000 per day. The zoo will be open between 10 am and 5 pm. As many as 111 visitors entered thezZoo till 1 pm.”
Mayor Tasneem, MLAs S A Ramadass, G T Devegowda, L Nagendra and B Harshavardhan were present.
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