Help is pouring in for the Mysuru zoo as the Bank Note Paper Mill India Private Limited has agreed to donate a sum of ₹ 99.20 lakh for the construction of another enclosure for orangutans.
It signed a memorandum of understanding in this regard with the Mysuru zoo, under its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative.
This is the second time the company is helping the zoo as it earlier donated ₹70 lakh for the construction of an orangutan house, under the CSR initiative. The construction was done recently and two pairs of orangutans brought from Singapore and Malaysia have been put on display.
Zoo Executive Director Ajit Kulkarni told The Hindu that 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 we proposed another enclosure for the species. The paper mill limited agreed to fund the project, he added.
Mr. Kulkarni thanked the company management for its gesture.
The zoo got two pairs of orangutans from Singapore and Malaysia as it managed to strike another 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 return, the Mysuru zoo has given two pairs of giraffes.
According to the zoo records, the last time the zoo displayed orangutans was in the 70s and the zoo authorities’ best efforts thereafter to get an orangutan pair did not materialise.
