Collective holds protest against plan to relocate zoo in Keralam

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Social activists, led by actor Karamana Sudheer, G.S. Pradeep, poet Murugan Kattakada, and Corporation councillor S.P. Deepak gather on the Museum premises in protest against the State government’s proposal to relocate the Thiruvananthapuram zoo, on Monday. | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN

A small collective of cultural activists on Monday (September 21, 2026) came out in protest against the plan to relocate the Thiruvananthapuram zoo from its current location to Neyyar or some other forest area.

The collective, including Left Democratic Front (LDF) Parliamentary Party leader in the Corporation S.P. Deepak, alleged an agenda to hand over the zoo’s location to corporates.

Mr. Deepak said the zoo and museum complex had a long tradition and lakhs of people came to the zoo each year. He added that it was one of the best zoos in the country and the relocation would destroy the facility.

Mr. Deepak alleged that the relocation was part of a series of ‘India for sale’ transactions in the State capital. “Prime property is handed over to big corporates so that they can make huge profits,” Mr. Deepak alleged.

New excuses were being put forward to justify the relocation of the zoo, he said, calling for strong protests against it.

Actor Sudhir Karamana said the move to relocate the zoo was very strange. The Central Zoo Authority is not known to have made any such decision, nor is it known to have been made under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. “This begs the question why the decision is being taken,” Mr. Karamana said.

Quizmaster and orator G.S. Pradeep said if animal welfare was the intention, then shifting the zoo animals to a forest area would destroy the ecosystem in which wild animals and birds survived.

Pointing out that there had been no clear answer on what would come up in the space vacated by the zoo, Mr. Pradeep expressed concern about it being handed over to corporates. Moreover, there were many small traders who eked out a living from the business that tourists and students visiting the zoo brought them.

Poet Murugan Kattakada asked what the fate of the old stately trees on the zoo campus would be if the zoo were to be shifted elsewhere. “It is not just the animals that are part of the zoo ecosystem. What about the hundreds of birds, including migratory birds, in the zoo,” he asked.

Such public spaces should be preserved, not converted into private spaces, he said.

Mr. Deepak said this was the first of the protests organised against the proposal to shift the zoo. If further steps were taken in this regard, people from the political and cultural fields as well as city residents would be roped in to stage strong protests, he added.

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