In an exotic bird park at Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district, Kookyland, visitors are charged ₹200 in entry fee. These exotic birds include macaws, the endangered African grey parrot, conures and lorikeets. The other exhibits include diamond doves, hedgehogs, exotic pythons, dwarf hamsters and iguanas. “All the species in my collection are foreign species that are allowed to be kept in India,” says M.M. Sridhar, of Kookyland. “We have declared all the species in our collection in the Parivesh portal as per norms and officials of different departments also inspect the park often,” he adds.
Similar private aviaries have started springing up across Tamil Nadu over the last few years with a boom in the interest among people in interacting with exotic wildlife. Has this interest brought on a rapacious industry thriving on the trade in exotic animals, many of which are often illegally trafficked into the country? While the trade in native Indian species of wildlife is protected by the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, animals brought into India from other countries till recently had very little oversight once they entered Indian borders. From aviaries to private zoos, the lack of regulation of the sale and exhibition of non-native fauna could drive the threatened species towards extinction in other countries, besides endangering the local biodiversity, experts caution.
