This pandemic has affected businesses, livelihoods, the mental and physical health of people all across. But animals especially those residing in sanctuaries, national parks and zoos have suffered a lot. With caretakers on leave, and tourism facing a slump, there’s now a dip in income to even feed or take care of these majestic creatures. In a heartwarming move, a 12-year old student got himself a unique birthday gift by adopting a Royal Bengal Tiger for three months at the Nehru Zoological Park (NZP) in Hyderabad. Chinmay Siddharth Shah, a class 7 student of a city school spent his birthday budget of ₹25,000. He came forward to adopt the tiger named Sankalp. So this means the tiger’s food and other preferences will be taken care of by the money contributed by Chinmay for three months.
12-Year-Old Student Adopts Royal Bengal Tiger At Hyderbad’s Nehru Zoological Park
Various national parks, zoos and sanctuaries across the country have now come up with animal and bird adoption scheme to tackle the lack of funds. Bannerghatta Biological Park in Bangalore also offers people the opportunity to adopt animals and contribute to their welfare. In fact social worker and chairperson of Infosys, Sudha Murty also adopted animals at the Bannerghatta Zoo. As a gesture of thanks, the park even named an elephant calf ‘Sudha’. On a similar note, a young 12-year old student adopted a Royal Bengal Tiger from Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad for his birthday. Chinmay Siddharth Shah adopted the tiger named Sankalp for three months and spent his birthday budget for it.
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The Student And His Father Presented A Cheque Of ₹25,000 To Adopt The Tiger For 3 Months
Chinmay and his father Siddharth Kantilal Shah went to the office of the curator and handed over a cheque of ₹25,000 to Deputy Curator A.Nagamani to adopt the animal for three months. Five other children also presented cheques worth ₹5000 each to adopt small birds and nocturnal animals. Vihaan Atul Shah, Priyal, Havisha Jain, Dhwani, Bhakti Nagda and Preksha handed over their cheques to the NZP official. Nagamani thanks the children profusely for their kindness and affection towards conservation of animals and birds at the Zoo Park. She also appealed to the citizens to come forward and adopt the animals.
The zoo suffered a loss of more than ₹6 crore because of the ban on entry of visitors since March 22. It currently seeks celebrities and businessmen to adopt the animals by sponsoring their expenses for a fixed period. Officials hope this gesture can help the zoo surpass the financial constraints triggered by the pandemic. In July, Tollywood actor Ram Charan’s wife, superstar K. Chiranjeevi’s daughter-in-law, Upasana Kamineni adopted an elephant for one year. A businessman adopted a Royal Bengal Tiger for one year. Spanning 300 acres this zoo is home to around 181 indigenous and exotic species including 1716 animals, birds and reptiles. Nehru Biological Park is in fact known to be one of the best zoos in Asia. And it attracts around 30 lakh visitors per year. Meanwhile, take a tour around Madhya Pradesh’s Jungles of Kanha.