File photo of visitors at the Mysuru zoo.

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Going by the footfall, and revenue attracted by nine zoos in the State, it’s clear that they have recovered from the COVID-19 blues. The zoos under the control of Zoo Authority of Karnataka were badly hit and the pandemic had shattered their earnings, forcing them to seek donations from animal lovers and wildlife enthusiasts, for their maintenance.

Thankfully, 2022 came as a ray of hope as it turned out to be a promising year for the zoological gardens with the zoos managing to make a sizable revenue with impressive footfall post-pandemic.

In a span of eight months – from April to December 2022 – the nine zoos earned ₹75.72 crore out of 52.77 lakh footfall. Of course, the major revenue has come from the large zoos such as the Mysuru zoo, and Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP).

If 16.12 lakh footfall was registered by the BBP, the Mysuru zoo attracted over 25 lakh visitors. BBP earned ₹42.68 crore while the Mysuru zoo made ₹24.76 crore revenue. The third largest revenue among the nine was grossed by Shivamogga Zoo which mobilized 3.22 crore from its gate collections.

The nine zoos under ZAK include Mysuru zoo, Bannerghatta Biological Park, Hampi Zoo, Chitradurga zoo, Gadag zoo, Kalaburagi zoo, Belagavi zoo, Davangere zoo and Shivamogga zoo. Revenue from Karanji Lake Nature Park is also taken into consideration,

The details of the earnings and footfall in 2022 were disclosed at a press conference at the Mysuru zoo by ZAK Chairman Shivakumar M.

Funds for handling rescued animals  

Mr Shivakumar sought separate funding from the government for handling animals rescued and captured in conflict situations. There has been a rise in animals brought to the zoos after rescue in view of increased human-animal conflicts. This has doubled the maintenance of zoos that look after such animals. The ZAK is incurring an expenditure of around ₹8-9 crore from its resources towards the handling of the rescued animals. This needs to be suitably compensated by making separate allocation to the ZAK, he suggested.

A proposal in this regard has been sent to the government, the chairman added.

₹30 cr. sought over deficit

The ZAK presented a ₹115.31 crore budget for 2022-23. However, the ZAK was now in need of 30 crore for the maintenance of zoos, development works, and administrative expenses, animal feeds and so on. “If the fund was released to ZAK, it will help in taking up development works and the maintenance of zoos until March 2023,” he said.

For the State’s zoological gardens that bore the brunt of COVID-19, depleting footfall to a record low and thereby threatening their survival, the footfall saw a big rise in October-November and reached a peak in December. The visitors’ numbers have reached the pre-pandemic level. While the visitors to the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) in Bengaluru exceeded the pre-pandemic numbers in November, the footfall reached the pre-COVID-19 phase at the Mysuru zoo in December.

The small, medium and major zoos that are under the control of ZAK usually attract about 6 million visitors annually, with the highest footfall recorded by the Mysuru and Bannerghatta zoos. The Mysuru zoo attracted nearly 36,500 visitors on Vijayadashami last year – highest since 2018 – earning a revenue of ₹35,92,160.