SHIVAMOGGA: Here’s some good news for animal lovers! The Tyavarekoppa Lion and Tiger Safari will soon provide an opportunity to make your birthday special.
People will be allowed to adopt a tiger, lion or any other wild animal for a day on their birthdays at the safari, which is about 10 km from Shivamogga and 311 km from Bengaluru. This safari is arguably the first in the state to make this ‘adopt on your birthday’ provision for animal lovers.
Tyavarekoppa is the only tiger and lion safari in central Karnataka, which at present provides home to seven Bengal tigers, four Asiatic lions, 18 Indian leopards, 200 deer and sambars and many other animals, reptiles and birds.
B Mukund Chandra, executive director of the safari, told The New Inadian Express, “Many people want their birthdays to be special. They celebrate birthdays at various places. We will soon facilitate wildlife lovers to celebrate their special day at the safari by adopting an animal. The adoption cost will be inclusive of the animals one day’s food, medicine, administrative cost and others,” he said.
Spread across 250 hectares, each day, the safari attracts hundreds of tourists, especially schoolchildren.
Chandra said the name and photos of adopters will also be displayed at the safari.
This plan will not only help in easing the “burden of cost”, but also generate revenue which can be used for developmental activities.
“At present, on an average, the total annual fee collected at the park ranges between `1.82 crore and `2 crore. However, this is not enough to feed animals, take care of their health and other administrative expenses. Even if we want to take up development works, we have to seek funds from various sources.
However, our aim is to see that the safari is self-reliant income-wise. Hence, we are planning to allow
the people to celebrate their birthdays by adopting animals for a day. We are also planning to invite various celebrities too,” Chandra said.