Animal adoptions rise at Visakhapatnam zoo as families celebrate birthdays with wildlife
Visakhapatnam: Birthdays at Visakhapatnam’s Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP) are looking a little different this year — with cakes giving way to conservation.
A growing number of families, schools and organisations are choosing to mark milestones by symbolically adopting animals at the zoo, turning celebrations into contributions for wildlife care.
On his birthday, frequent visitor Sohan Gowtham Yenneti skipped gifts and chocolates. Instead, he adopted a red-necked wallaby — an animal he said he always stops to admire. His name now joins a steadily expanding list of citizens supporting the zoo’s animal adoption programme.
A symbolic adoption is a charitable donation to help feed and care for an animal, not taking it home. The gesture, once limited to wildlife enthusiasts, has gained traction over the past year with participation from families, school children, corporates and individuals celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and other occasions.
Zoo officials say the trend reflects rising public interest in conservation and a desire to give back in meaningful ways.
IGZP has also been expanding its collection. A squirrel monkey, brought to the zoo last year through an animal exchange programme with Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre via the Radhe Krishna Temple Welfare Trust, Jamnagar, Gujarat, is among the newer attractions visitors now support.
