Adopt a cobra for ₹2,000, an elephant for ₹1.75 lakh

Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta Biological Park offers animals for adoption for a year

02/05/2020, PRESS TRUST OF INDIA,BENGALURU

A file photo of a zoo employee feeding ostriches at the Bannerghatta Biological Park. Deepa Kurup

Would you like to adopt an Indian cobra for as low as ₹2,000 per annum or an Asiatic elephant ₹1.75 lakh? Bengaluru’s Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) has a new programme for people with an interest in conserving wildlife by adopting animals at the zoo.

Certain privileges such as gift voucher for a zoo visit and the display of names on an adoption board would be extended, depending on the amount donated.

“The animal adoption programme is an opportunity for you to get involved with supporting feed and veterinary care expenses for zoo animals with provision for Income Tax rebate under Section 80G. There are 21 elephants that can be adopted online,” said zoo officials.

The BBP has released a list of animals that can be adopted.

Patrons can adopt a King cobra and Indian rock python for ₹3,500 per year, or a jungle cat and the Assamese Macaque for ₹5,000. Adoption of a black buck and sambar will cost you ₹7,500 per year, an emu is billed at ₹10,000, and a spot-billed pelican at ₹15,000.

“The purpose of the adoption programme is to create awareness and connect with people involved in conservation activities, not just generating revenues,” the Executive Director of the government-run BBP, Vanashree Vipin Singh, told PTI on Friday. “We don’t run this programme with a profit motive.”

The zoo, which sees an annual footfall of around 15 lakh persons, has been closed since the middle of March following the lockdown declared in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. It received a record 23,000 people on a single day on January 1 this year.

The animal adoption initiative is part of the BBPs outreach programme as people are not able to visit the zoo due to the lockdown. In other times, visitors to the zoo can sign up to adopt animals, Ms. Singh said.