A slew of new initiatives were launched at the century-old Mysuru zoo, which is one of South India’s major tourist destinations that receives footfalls in big numbers here.
Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre launched the initiatives and the new projects of the zoo on Saturday in the presence of senior Forest Department officials and officials from the Zoo Authority of Karnataka and the Mysuru zoo.
As the zoo is a key tourist site in the must-see list with an average daily visitors of 10,000 people to 15,000 people, the zoo management has introduced a WhatsApp-based ticketing system where the visitors instead of standing in long queues to buy entry tickets, can purchase tickets through WhatsApp. After sending a message to the zoo’s WhatsApp number 9686668818, the visitors are guided to purchase the tickets with ease. The initiative saves time and helps visitors tour the zoo at ease.
The newly-born male giraffe calf was named Daksha at the Mysuru zoo on Saturday by Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre | Photo Credit: M.A. Sriram
Giraffe calf
While visiting the zoo to inaugurate the initiatives, Mr. Khandre named the newly born male giraffe calf “Daksha”. It was born to Bharat and Lakshmi.
The zoo has in its collection three male and five female giraffes, and has been in the forefront of captive breeding of giraffes. The zoo has exchanged giraffes to various national and international zoos in the past under the animal exchange programme.
Flexi adoption of animals
The animal adoption scheme, which was first launched in the zoo in 2001, became a hugely popular scheme, encouraging other zoos to replicate the scheme because of its success at the zoo here. It helped bring revenue to the zoo besides fulfilling the interests and wishes of the visitors.
As of now, under the scheme, adoption was possible for a duration of one year, after paying the requisite fees.
The zoo management has brought some changes to the scheme where the animals and the birds can be adopted even for a day, a month, and also six months. The revised scheme allows the visitors to adopt the scheme as per their wish and choice, bringing flexibility and options. The zoo provides a certificate of appreciation to those going for adoptions. Interested can adopt the animal visiting www.mysuruzoo.info.
Wildlife Ambulance and Surgical Unit
For the treatment of zoo animals, a wildlife ambulance was flagged off by the Minister. The ambulance costing ₹11.73 lakh is beneficial for treating animals and birds. The zoo has 145 species of animals and birds in 1,450 numbers. The ambulance will be used to carry essentials for the treatment, the zoo officials said.
The Minister on the occasion inaugurated the surgical unit at the veterinary hospital at the Chamundi rescue and rehabilitation centre located at Koorgalli near here. The rescue centre takes care of captured, injured and rescued animals, including tigers, leopards, sloth bears.
Under the CSR initiative, Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited donated a multi-utility vehicle to the zoo. The vehicle costing ₹8.62 lakh will be used for the daily activities at the Chamundi Rescue, Rehabilitation Centre at Koorgalli, and the Mysuru zoo. The live-feed unit, which was established on a small scale on the zoo premises, has been expanded. It has been expanded for supplying feed like rabbits and rats to snakes.
