The second phase work of Orangutan Housing Facility at the Mysuru zoo is ready and all set for the inauguration on Friday at 11 a.m.
The new enclosure for the great apes has been built at a cost of ₹99.20 lakh with financial assistance from the Bank Note Paper Mill India (BNPMI), Mysuru. The entire fund for the project had been donated by the BNPMI, the zoo said.
The Mysuru zoo and the Zoo Authority of Karnataka have thanked the BNPMI for its assistance which, they said, will go a long way in the conservation of orangutan, an endangered great ape, and also in the creation of awareness about its conservation.
BNPMI had signed a memorandum of understanding with the Mysuru zoo, under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, with regard to the construction of the enclosure.
Mr. S. Thalikerappa, Managing Director, BNPMI, Mysuru will inaugurate the facility.
Mr. B.P. Ravi, member secretary, ZAK, Dharani Kumara K., Senior General Manager (F&A), Anantha Hegde, senior general manager (tech), Abhaya Kumar Mahapatro, senior general manager (HR and Admin), Lakshmisha Babu, company secretary, Raghavendra S.A., manager civil, D. Mahesh Kumar, zoo executive director, BNPMI, A.J. Roshni, deputy director and others will be present.
BNPMI had earlier donated ₹70 lakh to the zoo for the construction of an orangutan house under the CSR initiative. The two pairs of orangutans brought from Singapore and Malaysia were displayed in the enclosure built earlier.
Another enclosure for housing orangutans had become necessary for ensuring the new bloodline of the species and taking up captive breeding of the endangered species. This required a larger place and therefore the zoo proposed another enclosure for the species. Paper Mill Limited agreed to fund the project, which is now complete and ready for inauguration.
The zoo got two pairs of orangutans from Singapore and Malaysia after it managed to strike a major international animal exchange deal. The 17-year-old male, Merlin, and 13-year-old female, Atina, arrived from Singapore zoo while five-year-old male, Afa, and the 7-year-old female, Minnie, were brought from Malaysia zoo in 2021. In return, the Mysuru zoo gave two pairs of giraffes.
According to the zoo records, the last time the zoo displayed orangutans was in the 70’s and the authorities’ best efforts thereafter to get an orangutan pair did not materialise.
