Wild animals can fend for themselves quite easily in their natural habitat. But what about the ones in zoos? Since the pandemic, all public places, including zoos across the country, were closed for almost two years.
While a few zoos reported that the animals were happy to not be disturbed with constant movement or clicking of pictures by humans. Other places like Nandankanan zoo in Bhubaneswar faced a pretty hard time making ends meet for their animals without their main source of income– entry tickets.
Sanjay Gandhi National Park located in Mumbai came forward to encourage people to adopt animals, actual wild animals. Just like celebrities!
There is also a government resolution dated December 26, 2013, that provides an opportunity for people to participate in the noble work of helping in the upkeep of the animals. Under this scheme, people willing to adopt need to pay an adoption fee.
This adoption scheme allows people to visit the animals without extra charges once a week for a whole year. Family time sorted. This is aimed at making people aware of wildlife and the importance of conserving it.
Celebrities too have come forward and taken part in this scheme to show their support. A few renowned faces being that of MS Dhoni and Zaheer Khan, who have adopted tigers at the Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens in Mysuru. Anil Kumble has also adopted a giraffe and an Asiatic lion.
Taking care of lions and elephants costs all the zoos the most. While birds and reptiles cost the least. The size of the donation does not really matter, every little thing counts. Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) allows people the opportunity to adopt animals like tigers, lions, leopards, rusty-spotted cats, blue bulls, spotted deer, and barking deer for a year.
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Adoption fees vary from Rs 10,000 and go up to Rs 3.10 lakh for tigers. Birds and reptiles fee starts at Rs 2000. Few other zoos have started this scheme, like Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bengaluru, where they offer a wider range of animals from Hippos to sloths and bears for adoption.
Last year over 15 cobras were adopted, while quite a few paid for the care of tigers and even lovebirds.
Alipore Zoological Gardens in Kolkata are not behind either. The cost of their Bengal Tiger and the Asian Elephant can be as high as Rs. 2,00,000. They even have rhinos and kangaroos up for adoption.
Experience of a few:
Siddharth Thakur who is a director with Viva Home Finance is the first person to adopt a 3-year-old male lion Jespa. “We wanted to do our bit to help the dwindling lion population in the country,” said Siddharth when asked about why he thought of taking this step.
Neelum Shah who lives in Borivli adopted a spotted deer for Rs. 20,000. “We would often spot them during our walks to the park because they are active in the mornings,” said the 44-year-old businesswoman.
Yuva Sena adopted a tiger along with his brother Tejas who adopted two rusty-spotted cats, the worlds smallest wild cats
This is a pretty great step taken by all. But for now, I am just going to go and convince my parents to adopt a dog.
Image Sources: Google Images
Sources: The Times Of India, Hindustan Times, Times Now, +More
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This post is tagged under: Mumbai, SGNP, wild, animals, experiences, adoption, fees, one year, conservation, awareness, zoos, Alipore Zoological Gardens, Celebrities, tigers, step, Borivli, lion, Jespa, Asian Elephant, Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Bannerghatta Biological Park, Bengaluru, opportunity, donation, MS Dhoni, Zaheer Khan, support, encourage
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