Zoos open up the world of animals to children

The central zoo authority (CZA) has avowed itself to be self-sufficient. Its animals enclosed in naturalistic surroundings, its staff content with the job profile, and its state-of-the-art educational and interpretive facilities have certainly grabbed the eyeballs, particularly those of children. 

Come summer vacations and the zoological parks across the country are flooded with children who are curious to have a look at the rare, exotic species which they have only read about in school text-books. According to statistics available with the CZA, over 20 crore children visit zoos during their summer vacation. About 10 crore children pay a visit during the mid-term holidays.

“Today’s children are much more conversant about the need of animal conservation and protection of the food chain. They are, in fact, more compassionate towards animals, birds, and reptiles, a tad better than my own generation. My 10-year-old daughter wants an owl for a pet, but she is against caging him. From where am I going to find an owl?” asked Geeta Ramachandran, a teacher.
“I took her to the Pilikula Nisarga Dhama wildlife enclosure and adopted a Barn Owl. Once a while, I take her there to see him. My daughter calls him Owly,” she added with a chuckle.

Zoos in the state are doing their bit to increase awareness levels on wildlife and environmental conservation among children. The Mysore zoo and Dr Shivarama Karanth Biological Park at Pilikula in Mangalore taluk run camps for children on wildlife and environment conservation during summer.

KB Markandaiah, executive director of Chamarajendra zoological park at Mysore, said, “There is an increased interest among children about wildlife and environment. Visiting the zoo has become permanent on their holiday agenda. No matter how many times they have seen it, they still want to come over. In 2010-2011, there were nearly 27 lakh visitors, of which 50% were children.”

“In a year, we at Mysore zoo train more than 5,000 children about the importance of preserving wildlife and environment. We conduct intensive training programmes for 100 children chosen through a selection process. They come to the zoo every day for a week in three batches during their summer vacation and learn about animals and birds, in addition to conserving greenery,” Markandaiah said.

Dr Shivarama Karanth Biological Park at Pilikula in Mangalore taluk has registered the highest number of child visitors this year. “We get more than 3 lakh people every year, of which 70%-75% belongs to the 10-15 years age group. The eco-club concept, which has taken off among the schools, has given fillip to the increased awareness about wildlife and environment conservation. Pilikula being the country’s only centre that breeds King Cobra has been luring several youngsters. We invited international King Cobra conservationist Roger Whittaker sometime back to talk to children about the qualities of the cobra and its biological and habitation attributes,” said Jayaprakash Bhandary, wildlife warden of the facility.

CZA member secretary of Karnataka, Jayakumar, said, “Even in the smaller zoos, there have reports that youngsters are showing more interest in animal welfare.  This spells good future for the wildlife.”