Government to establish centre for zoo sciences

The government is working out modalities for setting up a centre for zoo sciences to streamline the functioning of zoos in the country, Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said Monday.

The purpose of establishing such an institution would also be to infuse scientific and technical culture in the present system and make the zoos more visitor friendly, Javadekar said, delivering the inaugural address at the 69th Annual Conference of World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) here.

The proposed institution would act as a technical advisor to the Central Zoo Authority and provide expert help to states and Union Territories in conservation breeding of endangered species, and organize training courses for in-service zoo personnel and stakeholders in India as well as for zoo personnel of South Asian countries.

Elaborating further, Javadekar said the theme of the conference "Bio-diversity is Us" was quite appropriate for India, a land of diverse habitat eco-systems, culture, religion, tradition, language and food.

The minister also highlighted the initiatives undertaken by the ministry for the conservation of endangered species like setting up a laboratory for conservation of endangered species at Hyderabad.

The government has also started a programme for disaster management in the zoos in order to deal with recent incidents involving visitors inadvertently falling into the animal enclosures, an official release quoted him as saying.