Miners, banks adopt animals at Hosapete zoo

The animal adoption scheme at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Zoological Park, under the Bilikal Reserve Forest, has found many takers.Three banks and as many mining companies adopted as many as eight animals, including two tigers and a lion, at the animal adoption programme held at the zoological park on Wednesday.

The Sandur-based mining company Veerbhadrappa Sangappa & Company adopted a tiger named Vayuputra for a period of three years. P Balasubba Setty & Son of Hosapete adopted a tigress named Chamundi while the Bengaluru-based mining company Kumaraswamy Mineral Export Pvt Ltd has adopted a lion named Kesari. All the companies paid Rs 1 lakh each to the zoo for upkeep of three big cats.

The Vijaya Bank (Hosapete branch) adopted a fox and a nilgai while Dena Bank picked a jackal and a nilgai for adoption, paying Rs 30,000 each. The HDFC Bank adopted a hyena for a year.