Now, you can adopt a Kolkata zoo animal for a month

KOLKATA: A recent tweak in the ‘adopt-an-animal’ policy by the Alipore zoo has led to a renewed interest by ‘foster parents’ in the scheme.
The scheme, launched in August 2013, was available only in annual adoption fee format till a few months ago. But in September, the zoo officials decided to introduce a monthly scheme for adoption after queries from interested persons.“For instance, the annual adoption fee for a tiger is Rs 2,00,000. But recently, we introduced a monthly fee option of Rs 20,000. This way, anyone interested can adopt the animal even for a month,” said zoo director Asish Kumar Samanta.
The recent adoptions happened through the monthly scheme include that of a zebra (September 6 to October 5 for Rs 3,000), a kangaroo (September 6 to October 5 for Rs 2,500), a cockatiel (September 12 to October 11 for Rs 200) and an iguana (October 25 to November 24 for Rs 500).
And, the new scheme seems to be yielding results. Compared to 2020-21 and 2019-20, when only four and five adoptions, respectively, had taken place — as per data on zoo website — 19 animals have already been adopted this year, including four through monthly scheme. Eleven adoptions happened after the introduction of new scheme.