On the occasion of 69th Wildlife Week celebrations, a ‘Walk for Wildlife’ was organised in Mysuru on Monday to spread awareness on the importance of wildlife and its conservation.
Organised by the Mysuru Zoo, the event was flagged off by Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra at the Balarama Gate of Mysuru palace. The wildlife walk concluded at the service gate of the zoo on Lalitha Mahal Palace Road in front of Mysore Race Club.
Students, Forest Department and the zoo officers and staff, the zoo volunteers and several members of NGOs took part in the walk.
The zoo has organised various activities for educating people on wildlife conservation on the occasion of Wildlife Week. Other activities include a photography exhibition, essay writing competition, spot painting competition, elocution on various themes.
The zoo’s painting and wildlife photography exhibition also got off to a start on Monday. The painting competition was organised under the title ‘Unite for Big Cats’ campaign in three categories – “Save big cats of India”, “Conserving Big Cats and their Habitat” and “Let’s act before the roar is silenced” for Class 5 to 12 students. A total of 235 students from various schools and colleges took part in the competition.
Altogether, 52 photographers took part in the photography competition with a total of 128 photographs for both in-situ (82 photos) and ex-situ categories (46 photos). The winners of the competitions were announced on Monday. The expo was also inaugurated by the Deputy Commissioner and has paintings and photographs of the competition.
The Canara Bank of Mysuru zoo branch sponsored a sum of ₹20,000 as cash prizes to the winners. The prizes will be distributed on October 8 on the occasion of the valedictory of the Wildlife Week celebrations, a press release from the zoo said.
International Zoo Keepers’ Day will be celebrated on October 4. On the occasion, team-building exercises, including games will be organised for all animal keepers of the zoo. They will visit Ranganatittu bird sanctuary for an outing.
Also, the Nature Walk will be held at Karanji Lake Nature Park on October 5 and 6 from 7 a.m. to 8.30 a.m. at the park. The biodiversity activity will be observed on that day. To participate in the programme, one can go through the link https://forms.gle/56UMcedJLBDUzsW67 before October 4 by 5.30 p.m. Only 15 people can participate in a day.
The elocution competition will be held for Class 8 to 10 students and essay competition for 10 and PU students will be held on October 7 between 10 a.m. to 12 noon. The topic for elocution is ‘Climate change and its impact on wildlife’. And the topic for the essay is ‘Implications of plastic on wildlife’. Those willing to participate can go through the link https://forms.gle/nxGwTJggaHEXPtxy6 before October 6 at 5:30 pm.
The valedictory event of the wildlife week will be held on October 8 at 10.30 a.m. at amphitheatre of the zoo. The winners of various competitions will be given prizes on the occasion.
