Thiruvananthapuram zoo relocation plan draws concern from activists and residents

A proposal by Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan to relocate the Thiruvananthapuram zoo outside the city limits and convert the vacated land into a city square has drawn concern from activists, environmentalists and city residents.

Describing the move as a "dream project", the Chief Minister said the zoo should be shifted to Neyyar or some forest area where the animals would have an environment suited to their habitat. He questioned whether the zoo needed to remain in the heart of the city, arguing that keeping animals there amounted to cruelty. The freed-up space, he suggested, could be developed into a square on the lines of Madison Square in New York or public squares in Prague, with facilities to attract visitors and encourage them to stay longer in the State.

The zoo, spread over 30 acres in the heart of the city, was established in 1859 as an adjunct to the Napier Museum by the king of the erstwhile Travancore to draw more visitors.

Writer and activist Sreedevi S. Kartha called the idea strange in a social media post. She questioned the need for zoos at a time when more scientific information was available about wild animals, their natural behaviour and their environment. Conservation, she argued, did not mean collecting more wild animals but protecting forests and ecosystems. While the IUCN acknowledges the role of zoos in conservation, research and reintroduction, she said the aim should not be for animals to remain under human-restricted conditions but to create conditions for them to survive in forests. Setting up a captive wildlife facility on forest fringes for a more natural setting was a simplified approach, she added, and the issue should be viewed from the perspective of zoonotic diseases that could spread from the zoo to the wild or vice versa.

Environmentalist Veena Maruthoor, in a social media post, described zoos as an outdated concept and said they were not needed anywhere, adding that animals should be allowed to live in peace.

Former zoo veterinarian Jacob Alexander said that if protecting the interests of animals was the intention, the newly built Puthur zoo should be maintained properly and the animals shifted there. Building another facility to cage zoo animals was not practical, he said, pointing out that the lion safari park at Neyyar suffered from a lack of space, had no big cats and was closed. Instead of relocating the zoo, a safari could be started so that animals could roam in the open, he suggested. He also said lessons should be learnt from the problems in the functioning of the elephant rehabilitation centre at Kottoor, which resembled a concrete jungle. Noting that the zoo still did not make profits, he said there was no point in increasing the liability by creating another such facility.

City residents pointed out on social media that the zoo and museum premises served as a green lung for the city, drawing morning walkers and many elderly people. The zoo itself was home to hundreds of birds, including migratory birds, butterflies and rare trees, all of which would suffer if the facility were moved away.