Carry mobile, pay for camera at Vandalur zoo
TNN | Oct 20, 2018, 07.51 AM IST
CHENNAI: Arul Thirumurugan had nudged past the crowd with his family when he was stopped at the gates of Vandalur zoo. The man had bought three entry tickets but did not pay the ‘camera fee’ at the counter.
“I don’t have a camera,” he argued, but the gatekeepers told Arul to pay as he was carrying a mobile phone which had an inbuilt camera. Flustered, the visitor from nearby Urappakam relented. “I have an entry-level smartphone and don’t even use it to take photos. Why should I pay camera charges,” Arul asked.
The Arignar Anna Zoological Park collects ₹25, over and above the ₹50 entry fee, from every visitor carrying a camera phone. The zoo authorities do not differentiate between DSLRs and camera phones.
“The zoo management thinks we can click photos of animals that are several metres away with cellphones. But that’s not possible because phones don’t have a zoom lens like DSLRs. We mostly take selfies or group photos. We basically pay for clicking our own photos,” said A Ashwin from Tambaram who had gone to the zoo with his friends.
Zoo director S Yuvaraj said the charge is levied as per a 2012 government order. “It was issued years ago when people carried actual cameras. Nowadays 95% of the people use their mobile cameras. Only professional photographers carry cameras,” he said.
But wildlife photographer Munish Palaniappan said it was “illogical” to treat phones and cameras alike. “What will you click with a mobile phone camera? Visitors who don’t want to pay camera charges have every right to resist,” he said.
Unlike Vandalur zoo, animal parks in Mysuru, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar do not charge visitors for carrying camera phones. These zoos have separate tariffs for cameras. “Each zoo will have a different revenue-generation model. Mysuru zoo charges ₹80 on weekends and ₹60 on weekdays, but we don’t do that,” Yuvaraj said.
On Friday, 8,502 people visited the zoo and Yuvaraj said the management doesn’t collect camera charges from every member of a group.
“If someone is very specific about not using the mobile phone camera, he or she can deposit it in the cloak room for free and take it back while leaving the premises,” he said.
TNN | Oct 20, 2018, 07.51 AM IST
CHENNAI: Arul Thirumurugan had nudged past the crowd with his family when he was stopped at the gates of Vandalur zoo. The man had bought three entry tickets but did not pay the ‘camera fee’ at the counter.
“I don’t have a camera,” he argued, but the gatekeepers told Arul to pay as he was carrying a mobile phone which had an inbuilt camera. Flustered, the visitor from nearby Urappakam relented. “I have an entry-level smartphone and don’t even use it to take photos. Why should I pay camera charges,” Arul asked.
The Arignar Anna Zoological Park collects ₹25, over and above the ₹50 entry fee, from every visitor carrying a camera phone. The zoo authorities do not differentiate between DSLRs and camera phones.
“The zoo management thinks we can click photos of animals that are several metres away with cellphones. But that’s not possible because phones don’t have a zoom lens like DSLRs. We mostly take selfies or group photos. We basically pay for clicking our own photos,” said A Ashwin from Tambaram who had gone to the zoo with his friends.
Zoo director S Yuvaraj said the charge is levied as per a 2012 government order. “It was issued years ago when people carried actual cameras. Nowadays 95% of the people use their mobile cameras. Only professional photographers carry cameras,” he said.
But wildlife photographer Munish Palaniappan said it was “illogical” to treat phones and cameras alike. “What will you click with a mobile phone camera? Visitors who don’t want to pay camera charges have every right to resist,” he said.
Unlike Vandalur zoo, animal parks in Mysuru, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar do not charge visitors for carrying camera phones. These zoos have separate tariffs for cameras. “Each zoo will have a different revenue-generation model. Mysuru zoo charges ₹80 on weekends and ₹60 on weekdays, but we don’t do that,” Yuvaraj said.
On Friday, 8,502 people visited the zoo and Yuvaraj said the management doesn’t collect camera charges from every member of a group.
“If someone is very specific about not using the mobile phone camera, he or she can deposit it in the cloak room for free and take it back while leaving the premises,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment