In a bid to protect wildlife, People can now adopt animals from the Delhi Zoo

New Delhi, 4 October 2022: The National Zoological Park or the Delhi Zoo operated by the Union Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change has introduced an animal adoption program that enables anybody to join up and pay for the facility’s animal upkeep. The program is being launched at the zoo for the first time, according to zoo director Dharam Deo Rai, and is intended to “urge people to participate in wildlife protection.”

When an animal is adopted, the zoo will display the adopter’s name on the animal’s enclosure. An “adoption membership card” will also be issued to the adopter, who can then use it to access the zoo once a month during open hours.

The zoo is home to about 1,100 creatures, including 92 different kinds of mammals, birds, and reptiles. Among the animals that may be available for adoption are big cats, birds, snakes, bears, deer, elephants, star tortoises, and striped hyenas. Similar adoption programs are offered by other zoos across the nation, including the Nandankanan zoo in Odisha.

The amount that must still be approved varies based on the species and is paid annually for adoption. For birds like budgerigars, it might be as little as Rs 700 per year and as much as Rs 6,00,000 for lions, tigers, rhinos, and elephants. Leopards may potentially be available for adoption for about Rs 3,60,000 a year.

While, adoption is probably going to cost roughly Rs 40,000 per year for sambar deer, swamp deer, or the great hornbill. Other expensive adoptions include the Indian wolf, which costs Rs 1,80,000 annually, and the Indian bison, or gaur, which costs Rs 2,25,000 annually.

According to a document made public by the zoo management, adoption contracts for zoo animals would last one or two years. Adoption can be canceled, but there would be no reimbursement of the fee, it stated.

The document further states that the money made from the animal adoption program may be given back to the zoo on a quarterly basis for the care of its animals and staff.

It said, “The contribution would help to improve the overall facilities for the animals now in use, and eventually for their better care and conservation in the zoos.