Mysuru: Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, popularly known as Mysuru Zoo, established in 1892 by the erstwhile ruler of Mysore Sri Chamarajendra Wadiyar Bahadur, will be celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.

As part of the celebrations, Chief Minister Siddharamaiah will inaugurate various programmes on Aug. 10, between 3 pm and 3.30 pm at the Zoo premises, said Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) Chairperson Mallige Veeresh.

Addressing a press conference at the Zoo premises this morning, she said that the CM would inaugurate a 20 ft. tall, stone pillar near the front gate to commemorate the 125th year.

She further said that the CM will name the female elephant calf born to Asiatic elephant pair Abhi and Airavathi after 13 years as ‘Parvathi’. She said that the name was suggested by the animal keepers in the Zoo as it was born on the last Ashada Friday.

The CM will later inaugurate the Amphitheatre constructed at a cost of Rs. 2.4 crore and would release a postal stamp to commemorate the 125th year, she said and added that a documentary CD on the Zoo would also be released. The ZAK Chairperson also said that the Mysuru Zoo has adopted Bidar Zoo and Bannerghatta Zoo has adopted Gulbarga Zoo.

Speaking about the funds released by the State Government, she said that the Rs. 25 crore for parking lot, Rs. 25 crore for Koorgalli Rehabilitation Centre and Rs. 25 crore for aquarium has been sanctioned.

B.P. Ravi, Member Secretary of Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) said that eight zoos in the State come under ZAK fetching annual revenue of Rs. 51.55 crore and added that the expenses incurred was Rs. 53.39 crore. He said that the State Government grants Rs. 4-5 crore every year, which is being used to pay the salaries of the Zoo staff.

Stating that it was only the Mysuru Zoo that was under ZAK till 2002, Ravi said that now all the eight Zoos in the State are under ZAK. When asked about the long-pending demand by Zoo’s contract employees to make them permanent, he said that the State Government has instructed all Zoos to become self-reliant first and then it would consider regularising their services.

Mysuru Zoo Executive Director C. Ravishankar said that as part of the 125th year celebrations, there are plans to bring in new animals under Animal Exchange Programme. He said that the Mysuru Zoo had received a total revenue of Rs. 35 lakh through its animal adoption scheme last year and added that an average revenue of Rs. 34-35 lakh was generated through adoption of animals in the last four years. He said that the animal adoption scheme has fetched Rs. 12 lakh till July this year.

Giving statistics of the number of animals in the Zoo, he said that at present, the Zoo housed 1,600 animals of 153 species from India and around the world and is considered as one of the best Zoos in Asia.

Giving the numbers of some of the animals housed in the Zoo, Ravishankar said that the Zoo has 11 Asiatic elephants, four lions, 10 tigers, two smooth-coated otters, two one-horned Rhino, four lion-tailed macaques, one African elephant, five chimpanzees, nine leopards, two zebras, two cheetahs and eight giraffes among other animals.

He said that the Koorgalli Rehabilitation Centre is taking care of two Asiatic elephants, two tigers, one African elephant and one leopard.