Controversy erupts over resuming Pilikula Kambala in Mangaluru, DC requested to declare 500-metre radius around zoo as ‘silent zone’

Director of Pilikula Biological Park raises concerns over Kambala events near zoo, citing risks to captive animals' safety.

With Dakshina Kannada district administration preparing to resume a defunct Kambala promoted by it inside the sprawling Dr. Shivarama Karantha Pilikula Nisargadhama in Mangaluru, controversy has erupted over organising the event in this November.

H. Jayaprakash Bhandary, Director of Pilikula Biological Park, which is among the 18 major zoos in the country and which is situated inside the Nisargadhama spread over 370 acres, has written to the Deputy Commissioner M.P. Mullai Muhilan that it is not prudent to resume Kambala, near the park, because of the safety of captive animals in the zoo. In the earlier Kambalas held in Pilikula a decade ago, the zoo animals exhibited abnormal behaviour and took a couple of weeks to return to normalcy, Mr. Bhandary said.

The Director has requested Mr. Muhilan, who is also the Chairman of the Pilikula Development Authority, to declare 500 m radius of the zoo as “silent zone.”

The Pilikula Kambala was held last in December 2014. It was stopped after People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), India, raised objections against holding all types of kambala events citing animal cruelty.

In his two letters to Mr. Muhilan on September 6, the Director of the zoo said that about 1,250 wild captive animals, including endangered species, are housed in the park with the objective of conservation and breeding of endangered species found in the Western Ghats, to promote awareness among the people in general and children in particular, to encourage research and scientific studies etc.

A letter said: “... The captive wild animals require a non-disruptive environment and they prefer a noise-free atmosphere. High-decibel sounds affect their normal behaviour and breeding. It was observed during earlier Kambalas which were held in Pilikula that the animals had shown abnormal behaviour and took a couple of weeks to return to normalcy...”

“During Kambala, the noise is so high that it is heard up to 2 km. High-volume loud speakers, bands, and crackers are used in Kambala as a practice. The animal houses in the zoo are very close to the Kambala area...”