COVID-19: Revenue-hit Bengaluru zoo's appeal; Adopt, name animals & donate
Bengaluru, Jun 7: Faced with a financial crunch due to dip in footfall owing to COVID-triggered lockdown, Bengaluru zoo is reaching out to people to adopt and name animals and offer donations to raise resources.
The zoo -- Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) -- has four different units -- Zoo, Safari, Butterfly Park and Rescue Centre within an area of 731.88 hectares.
BBP is a self-sustained organisation run only by gate revenue; it has also adopted a few mini zoos of Karnataka.
"COVID-19 pandemic has played a great disaster on the zoo where the footfall has come down drastically, which has impacted revenue", said Chief Conservator of Forests, Bengaluru, and Incharge Executive Director of BBP, R Gokul.
In spite of this, the zoo was taking care of 2,388 animals belonging to 102 different species, he said.
"So we request citizens and organisations to adopt animals to contribute towards their partial cost of feed and veterinary care", Gokul said.
BBP is also providing an opportunity to name young animals.
Some of the recently-born ones available for adoption and naming are: Lioness Sania's one male and three female cubs, Hippopotamus Dashya's male calf, Spectacled Langur Reshmi's female infant, Hanuman Langur Adithi's infant and Grey Wolf Akira's two male pups.
Citizens can also contribute towards one day feeding cost of some of the zoo residents, Gokul said.
Daily feeding cost of an Asian Elephant, for example, works out to Rs 3,000 a day and the zoo has 25 of them.
There is a provision for income tax rebate under 80G for animal adoption/donation, it was noted.
The BBP had also launched an animal adoption programme during the COVID-19-induced lockdown last year.
"As many as 260 animals were adopted by 213 people in financial year 2020-21 and a sum of Rs 34,94,750 has been raised through this initiative", a BBP official told PTI.
ಶ್ರೀ ದರ್ಶನ್ ತೂಗುದೀಪರವರು ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಮೃಗಾಲಯಗಳ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಗಳನ್ನು ದತ್ತು ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳುವ ಮತ್ತು ದೇಣಿಗೆ ಮೂಲಕ ಸಹಕರಿಸಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ಮನವಿ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅವರಿಗೆ ಧನ್ಯವಾದಗಳು. @dasadarshan @aranya_kfd @CMofKarnataka @ArvindLBJP @CZA_Delhi @ani_digital @Mysore_Zoo @PIBBengaluru @PTI_News @KarnatakaWorld pic.twitter.com/6k2hk9RMag
— Zoos of Karnataka (@ZKarnataka) June 5, 2021
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Hathras: Cousin kills 2 minor sisters by sitting their throats, attacks their parents too
Hathras (UP), Jan 23 (PTI): Two minor sisters, the youngest just six, were killed allegedly by their cousin who slit their throats in the dead of the night before attacking their mother and bedridden father with an intention to wipe out the entire family, police said Thursday.
The horrific incident occurred during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday at the family's home in Ashirwad Dham Colony of Hathras' Sadar Kotwali area, they said.
While Vikas allegedly killed his two cousins -- Srishti (14) and Vidhi (6) -- by slitting their throats with a sharp object, his uncle and aunt survived the assault but have been hospitalised with serious injuries, officials said.
While a family feud is suspected to be the reason behind why Vikas launched the murderous attack, police said they are investigating the motive behind the crime.
The deceased were the daughters of Chhotelal Gautam, originally from Fatehpur district.
Gautam, a lecturer at Jawahar Smarak Inter College in Mitai, has been residing in the Ashirwad Dham Colony with his wife Virangana alias Gauri and their daughters. He has been bedridden for the past year due to a paralysis attack, according to police.
Hathras Superintendent of Police Chiranjeev Nath Sinha said Gautam's nephew Vikas arrived at the family's residence on the night of January 22, accompanied by an associate.
"Around 9 PM, they all had dinner together and they all went to sleep. Sometime between 1:30 and 2 AM, Vikas and his associate used sharp weapons to attack the family, killing the two daughters. They also injured Chhotelal Gautam and his wife," Sinha said.
Gauri's cries for help caused the attackers to flee. Alerted by her screams, other tenants and neighbours gathered and informed the police. The injured couple was rushed to the district hospital and later referred to a higher medical centre, he said.
The bodies of the two girls have been sent for postmortem.
Sinha said, "Gautam and his wife sustained injuries, but they managed to survive. According to Gauri's statement, her daughters' cousin Vikas carried out the attack. An FIR has been registered under relevant sections, and further legal action is being taken. The couple has been referred to a higher medical center for advanced care."
The residents of the colony revealed that Vikas was a frequent visitor to the family.
