Journalism of Courage
Five PMC officials have come forward recently to adopt different animals from the Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, also known as Katraj Zoo, in the latest in a series of measures taken by it to promote its Animal Adoption Scheme.
“The idea is to set an example for the common public and encourage people to come forward and be a part of the scheme,” said Ashwini Yadav, educational officer of the PMC.
While Ashok Ghorpade, the chief garden superintendent, has adopted a tiger named Tanjai for a month by paying Rs 15,000 as adoption charges, Rajkumar Jadhav, the zoo director, has adopted a leopard for a month at Rs 5,000. Dr NK Nighot has adopted Meera, an elephant, for a day for Rs 1,500 and Digambar Bangar, deputy engineer, has adopted a sloth bear for Rs 5,000.
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“It was a voluntary decision taken by the officials during a discussion that took place at an inter-departmental meeting,” said Yadav, who herself will be adopting a group of seven peacocks next month at an amount of Rs 5,000.
“It is my daughter’s birthday next month on June 22. I will be enrolling for the scheme on the same day for a month,” she said. From the time the Animal Adoption Scheme was introduced by Katraj Zoo nearly five years ago, 154 adopters have enrolled for the scheme that amounted to a collection of around Rs 24 lakhs.
The collected amount is used for the daily upkeep, feed and medicinal requirements of the adopted animals. Currently, the zoo houses 389 animals of 67 species including mammals, birds and reptiles.
Two animals that are popular among the adopters are tigers and leopards, and these are mostly adopted for a month each. An elephant, being a high-maintenance animal, gets adopted only for a day.
One animal that has been adopted just once since the scheme was launched is a porcupine. However last year, Swaraj Pendharkar adopted it for a year by paying Rs 60,000.
In fact, there are also some animals that have never been adopted. This includes a group of four lizard category animals (Rs 170 for a day or Rs 5,000 for a month), barking deer (Rs 270 per day or Rs 8,000 a month) and nilgai (Rs 835 a day or Rs 25,000 per month). “Perhaps people don’t find them as attractive and royal as tigers, leopards or elephants. We want people to come forward and adopt all types of animals,” said Yadav.
