On March 15, the Nehru zoological park in Hyderabad decided to ban the entry of visitors due to the pandemic. It has been more than 5 months since the zoo decided to shut down and this has resulted in huge losses. From March 15 to August 31, the losses have been estimated to be around Rs 8 crore. The zoo is home to around 1700 animals which includes mammals, birds and reptiles. The main income for the zoo park is from its ticket sales. On an average, during weekdays, the zoo used to generate around Rs 3 to 4 lakh and the revenues would double on weekends. Sundays would fetch around Rs 10 lakh with a lot of people heading to the zoo with their children.
Speaking to TNM, Kshitija N, the curator of the zoo said the zoo had lost major revenues because of the loss of two peak seasons. She said, “The third week of March to the first week of June is a peak season because of the summer holidays for students. The zoo remained closed during this entire peak season. In the earlier season as well-- due to heavy rains and also due the state transport corporation’s bus strike, the footfall was severely impacted.”
According to Haneef, PRO of the zoo park, “The tickets are priced lower during the week. For adults it is Rs 50 and for children it is Rs 30 during weekdays and during the weekends it is Rs 60 for adults and Rs 40 for children. Every Monday the zoo park is closed.”
The zoo’s annual revenue is around Rs 21 crore. When asked if the losses incurred have affected the animals and their feed, the curator said that there has been no compromise in this regard. This was made possible as the government had released Rs 2.3 cr as a first instalment of relief and it is soon expected to also release the second instalment too. The zoo also had reserve resources which helped during this lean period.
The curator also said that they decided to complete pending development works like repairing the draining system, laying of pipelines, installing CCTV cameras, laying of roads etc during this period. The reserve funds came in handy to complete these long-pending works.
The Hyderabad zoo has a total of around 450 staff working in three shifts. Only 2 staff have reported to have contracted the virus. In the last two months, the services of around 50 contract staff, who were working in certain non essential departments like ticketing, had to be terminated to cut down the expenses.
The pandemic has not only affected the revenues of the zoo. It has also disrupted plans to bring in new animals from other zoos. The curator revealed, “There are three proposals that are through and few more are pending at the government of India level. Two of the proposals were to bring in animals from other zoos in the country and the other one was an international proposal.”
In terms of adoption, in the last 45 days, around 8 people have come forward for animal adoption. Online adoption is an option that is also available. The curator said, “Around 50 animals in the zoo have been adopted by animal lovers. In Hyderabad, more than companies, it is individuals who come forward for adoption. Some come every year and adopt the same animal. This is the right time to adopt an animal and sponsor them. The welfare of the staff can also be supported as they have been working relentlessly. People can reach out to us or check our website for more information.”