It’s a record for the century-old Mysuru zoo. A whopping 31.63 lakh people, mostly tourists, visited it last year (2014–15), which, according to the zoo, is the highest in the last two years. A sum of Rs. 16.21 crore was earned from gate collections during the year.
The highest footfalls on a single day during the year were registered on October 4 last when 29,863 people visited the zoo, realising a collection of Rs. 17.61 lakh.
While thanking the tourists, the media, the police and the zoo staff for their support in making the previous year another successful one for the zoo, Chief Conservator of Forests and zoo Executive Director B.P. Ravi said the 31.63 lakh visitors include the participants visiting under various educational programmes and the zoo in-reach programmes.
In 2012–13, the number of visitors had been 30.36 lakh and the gate collection was Rs. 12.02 crore. Around 30.49 lakh tourists visited the zoo during 2013–14, earning an income of Rs. 13.10 crore, he said.
With 31.63 lakh visitors, the total revenue earned was Rs. 16.21 crore, which is again highest in the recent years.
Karanji Lake Nature Park (KLNP), another key tourist destination under the control of the zoo, had registered 3.11 lakh tourists last year (2014–15) with a gate collection of Rs. 80.35 lakh.
The number of visitors in 2012–13 was 2.85 lakh and the revenue earned was Rs. 65.19 lakh while 3.19 lakh people visited the KLNP in 2013–14, realising a gate collection of Rs. 73.21 lakh.
Mysuru zoo has been listed as the country’s top zoo besides securing third place among the top 25 zoos in Asia.
The zoo managed to get this acknowledgment in Trip Advisor’s Travellers’ Choice awards for zoos and aquariums around the globe.
Being a tourist-friendly one, the zoo has accorded top priority for animal and bird collections, cleanliness, visitor amenities and many more. Other reasons for the substantial increase in visitors were addition of rare, exotic and endangered species.
“Enclosure enrichment, landscaping and beautification, and development activities for providing visitor-friendly facilities are among the reasons,” he said.
The housing of green anacondas for the first time in an Indian zoo also added to the excitement of animal lovers.
