The Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) is all set to launch a mobile phone application ‘Zoos of Karnataka’, to enable the people to contribute for conservation education, rescue, relief and rehabilitation of wild animals.
Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, scion of the erstwhile royal family, will dedicate the app online, at 11 am on Wednesday, on the occasion of World Tiger Day. State Minister for Forest, Environment and Ecology Anand Singh will be present. It is a virtual event and those interested can join virtually, through smartphones or laptops, by clicking the link https://meet.google.com/fik-xrnb-hfw.
B P Ravi, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, said, “The app will be useful in online animal adoption and donations to all nine zoos of Karnataka, for any amount starting from Rs 50.”
He said, “Zoos are an integral parts of the national conservation strategy. Since the advent of Covid-19, all institutions and organisations, including zoos, that thrived on the support of people are badly affected. People stopped visiting zoos, the much-needed revenue, in the form of entry fee, stopped.”
“The zoos under ZAK used to attract about 65 lakh visitors annually. In the year 2019-2020, about Rs 60 crore was realised from the entry fee from 62.5 lakh visitors. Due to the dip in the visitors’ numbers, during the current financial year, only about Rs 50 lakh was realised. However, animal maintenance expenses and salaries of staff remain the same,” said Ravi, also member secretary of ZAK.
“S T Somasekhar, Cooperation and Mysuru District In-charge Minister, took special interest in the animal adoption scheme of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens (Mysuru Zoo) and helped to mobilise Rs 3.5 crore from his friends, supporters and people of his constituency, as well as from the Association of Kannada Kootas of America (AKKA). So far, ZAK has collected Rs 4.25 crore as donations, in the current year, from all nine zoos,” he said.
“There were queries about animal adoption and contribution on the social media. There was talk about the need for an easy mode of adoption and contribution to all zoos of the state. People often asked, how can we be a part of the conservation efforts? Can we contribute Rs 50 or Rs 100? All these years, the zoos under ZAK, survived due to the support of the people. Thus, in order to facilitate the general public and animal lovers, ‘Zoos of Karnataka’ mobile app has been developed. It is available on Google Play Store and Apple Store,” Ravi said.