An all-new experience at the century-old Mysuru zoo Premium

The famed Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, popularly known as Mysuru Zoo, has seen a transformation with conservative animal enclosures replaced by modern ones, making the century-old zoo a “model” for other Indian zoos.

The famed Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, popularly known as Mysuru Zoo, has seen a transformation with conservative animal enclosures replaced by modern ones, making the century-old zoo a “model” for other Indian zoos.

Though the new enclosures have come up complying with the guidelines of the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), the shift to contemporary enclosures was primarily aimed at providing an all-new experience to visitors whose footfalls have swelled over the years and made the zoo here one of South India’s top tourist destinations.

Significantly, some of the animal enclosures have been built from the funding under corporate social responsibility (CSR). The zoo has continued its efforts to construct new enclosures for other large animals as it is also in touch with many corporate bodies and industries for getting CSR funds as modern enclosures play a major role in animal exchange agreements with foreign zoos as they cautiously verify infrastructure before exchanging their animals.

The Gorilla Family Housing Facility which was constructed with financial assistance under a CSR initiative of the Infosys Foundation, Bengaluru, was inaugurated early this year. It is a massive 37,000 square feet enclosure for housing gorillas. Constructed at a cost of ₹5 crore, the entire funding was done by the Infosys Foundation.

Mysuru zoo is the only zoological garden in the country that has gorillas in its collection. Zoo authorities say those who can’t afford to visit other developed countries or gorilla range countries can visit the Mysuru zoo to watch the gorillas, an endangered Greater Ape. The efforts will also help in creating awareness about its conservation, they add. The zoo has three gorillas, including Quembo, a male Western Lowland Gorilla procured from Frankfurt Zoo in Germany. The 14-year-old Thabo and 8-year-old Demba were also brought from Germany.

Gorilla Foundation, a non-profit organisation coordinating gorilla programmes and exchanges with zoos across the globe, helped the zoo in acquiring a pair of gorillas. Polo was gifted to Mysuru zoo by the Dublin Zoo in 1995. It died in 2014, now replaced by Quembo.

A few years ago, 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 were brought from Singapore zoo while five-year-old male Afa and the 7-year-old female Minnie were brought from Malaysia zoo in 2021.