Zoo Authority of Karnataka to launch a pilot programme on wildlife conservation for school kids

With an intent to sensitise school children about wildlife conservation and make them understand various methods to tackle man-animal conflicts, the Zoo Authority of Karnataka (ZAK) has decided to come up with a novel initiative of bringing school children to the zoo for free of cost and teach them lessons on conservation.

ZAK Chairman, LR Mahadevaswamy is the man behind this ambitious project. He said that the initiative would be launched soon on a pilot basis at Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Garden popularly known as Mysuru zoo which will be extended to all zoos across the state in the coming days. As part of this initiative, government school children who are studying in Class 5 and above will be invited to a zoo where they will be taught on wildlife conservation and other issues that can bring positive change.

"With this initiative, we are planning to reach the grassroots level to bring in positive change and create awareness among the young minds on wildlife conservation. This would also play a pivotal role to fight the man-animal conflict as various measures to tackle these conflicts will also be discussed during the session taken to educate the school students," said Mahadevaswamy.

He further mentioned that as of now over five government schools in the district have been identified and a round of discussion has happened with the Education Department officials. "The concerned BEO and DDPI's have conveyed that soon after the completion of mid-term exams, a meeting would be held to launch this programme on a pilot basis in Mysuru, after which it will be extended across the state," he said.

The ZAK authorities also have plans to extend a similar facility to private school managements offering them a concessional rate to enter the zoo while arrangements will be made by them to teach lessons on wildlife conservation to the students by the experts and field staff of the forest department.