Mysuru zoo looks to industries, donors for aid

For the second successive 12 months, the Mysuru zoo is heading for a monetary disaster.

As the zoo solely banks on its gate collections for its repairs and feeding animals and birds, the sharp drop in footfall since April this 12 months and the next closure has put the zoo in misery with zero income.

Last 12 months too, the zoo was in disaster following the lockdown however a whole lot of assist got here in from animal lovers and others, together with politicians, who gave donations and adopted animals and birds. After the lockdown was lifted, the zoo didn’t get the sort of footfall that it used to draw earlier than the pandemic, weakening its monetary standing.

More than ₹3.5 crore got here within the type of donations and adoptions final 12 months, serving to the zoo administration to handle the disaster.

In anticipation of such a gesture this 12 months too from animal lovers amidst uncertainty on when the curbs could be lifted, the administration of the Mysuru zoo has written to all main industries and companies right here in search of assist, both within the type of donation or adoption of animals, to assist it overcome the disaster but once more.

Zoo Executive Director Ajit Kulkarni instructed The Puucho that the zoo had sought assist from industries, and in addition from those that had helped it final 12 months. “We have appealed to them for aid as the zoo’s basic overheads is around ₹7 lakh a day, which primarily includes animal feeds. So far, there is no response from them but about ₹6 lakh had been raised through animal adoptions from others,” he mentioned.

Last 12 months’s financial savings have now come to the zoo’s rescue. The zoo didn’t take up any improvement work final 12 months and the cash that it saved is now serving to it to take care of upkeep amidst the prevailing state of affairs. “We can manage up to next month using the available resources. If the zoo does not get funds or earn revenue by then, maintenance will become difficult,” he opined.

The zoo wants about ₹24 crore yearly for upkeep, animal feeds and employees salaries. The zoo has round 1,450 animals and birds of 151 species.

Minister answerable for Mysuru district S.T. Somashekar, who had ensured that the zoo bought donations and adoptions throughout the pandemic final 12 months, has assured assist this 12 months too and in addition urged animal lovers to assist till the state of affairs returns to normality. Infosys Foundation had helped the zoo final 12 months by its donations.

With falling revenues not simply in Mysuru however throughout zoos within the State final 12 months, the Zoo Authority of Karnataka had launched a cellular app for donations in direction of the upkeep of animals and assembly different expenditures apart from paying the employees salaries. Donations and adoptions could be made utilizing the app.