Debate rages over plan to shift Thiruvananthapuram zoo in Keralam

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Visitors outside the main gate of Thiruvananthapuram zoo | Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN / THE HINDU

The debate over the Chief Minister’s plan to shift the Thiruvananthapuram zoo out of the city continued on Thursday with the former Mayor V.K. Prasanth opposing it in the wake of the current Mayor V.V. Rajesh lending his support to the proposal.

Mr. Rajesh, of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), had argued that the relocation of the zoo had to be discussed positively. Many animals in the zoo were dying as temperatures increased owing to climate change. Also, the zoo at present did not have some animals that were present earlier, leaving visitors disappointed. Experts had also pointed out that the zoo, in its current space, was not able to manage issues of waste, heat and noise pollution properly. By shifting the zoo to a place that was away from the city, more suited to the animals’ ecosystem, bigger, and built to international standards, their lives could be saved. Also, rare species could be brought to the facility and protected.

The Mayor also pointed out that Thiruvananthapuram city attracted more international attention compared with the time when the zoo was established here.

The government, he said, would have to decide the location for a new facility.

However, former Mayor V.K. Prasanth alleged commercial interests behind the move to shift the establishment, which was a green lung and on which a number of people were dependent. “It is to be suspected that the objective behind the suggestion is to hand over the land to some businessmen. Thiruvananthapuram zoo is our pride. If the Chief Minister says he wants to transform it into Madison Square, Thiruvananthapuram residents and people of Kerala would say it is better than that,” Mr. Prasanth, who belongs to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said.

The move was part of an agenda to destroy the city, he further alleged.

Mr. Prasanth, in a social media post, pointed out that it was a rare facility where a zoo and a museum were located together — the zoo on 36 acres and the garden on 19 acres. In contrast, Madison Square was only six acres. Also, the 167-year-old zoo was part of the city’s heritage. “It attracts 12 lakh visitors. Generates an income of ₹8 crore,” Mr. Prasanth wrote.

Located in the heart of the city, it was a place where the common man, including children, could visit without spending too much money. Shifting it to Neyyar or Palode would make it difficult for the public to reach there owing to transport difficulties, he said.

P.S. Easa, wildlife biologist and conservationist, said the Chief Minister had only initiated a discussion and not imposed any decision. The proposal to shift the zoo should be looked at from the conservation viewpoint and not just recreation. Conservation breeding of endangered species, so as to increase their numbers and release them back into the wild, was also one of the objectives of zoos.

Another question was where to shift the zoo.