Orangutans at the Mysuru zoo will soon be housed in an enclosure that is estimated to cost nearly ₹1 crore as the construction work for the same got off to a start on Friday with the Bank Note Paper Mill India Private Limited, Mysuru, coming forward to bear the cost.
The zoo had received two pairs of orangutans from Singapore and Malaysia last year. All four have now been housed in one enclosure which was again built with funds donated by the BNPM, Mysuru, last year.
In a bid to introduce new bloodline, and encourage captive breeding of the apes, the zoo proposed to build another enclosure for orangutans and the company came forward to donate ₹99.20 lakh under its CSR initiative.
Zoo Authority of Karnataka Chairman Mahadevaswamy, BNPM MD K.G. Vishwanathan, General Manager K. Dharani Kumar and other senior officials from the BNPMPL took part in the function where the works were given a start through the groundbreaking ceremony.
BNPM contributed a sum of ₹70 lakh under its CSR initiative for constructing the first enclosure for orangutans. The construction was completed last year.
Under an animal exchange deal, 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. In return, the Mysuru zoo gave two pairs of giraffes.