Bengaluru: Just what does one do when celebrities—Test cricketers and powerful netas alike—proclaim that they care for wildlife, fork out some money, and then forget about them? That’s the dilemma of authorities at the century-old Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens, Mysuru, where the likes of M S Dhoni, former skippers Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid, and speedsters Zaheer Khan and Javagal Srinath, along with former chief minister B S Yeddyurappa and former minister V Somanna adopted wild animals—from tigers to Asiatic lions, cheetahs, or giraffes—for a specific period but have not returned to support their upkeep.
The odd-man-out: energy minister D K Shivakumar who has adopted a pair of King Cobras for lifetime. Mr Yeddyurappa had adopted “Amulya”, a tigress for five years, but chose not to renew his pledge last year. Ditto with Mr Somanna, who adopted a cheetah for a year while serving in the previous BJP government.
Officials pointed out that Anil Kumble, who set the trend by adopting a giraffe cub and an Asiatic Lion for a year and paid Rs 1, 30, 000 for their upkeep, has not responded on whether he would like to support these animals or not.
“We are trying to reach Mr Kumble through a common friend just to know whether he is interested, but he might be busy,” they told Deccan Chronicle. And, Rahul Dravid has neither shared his address or his mobile number with these officials and therefore they have no clue how to contact him.
When contacted, however, Kumble said: “I have been adopting animals as I want to support the Mysuru zoo which is one of the best zoos in the country. The reason why I adopted an Asiatic lion is that I was instrumental in getting a pair of lions from Gujarat. I have already sent a cheque to the zoo authorities in April to continue the adoption for one more year. I do not know why my fellow cricketers failed to renew the adoption after one year.”
But as these anxious officials wait for a word from other cricketers, another Indian speedster Vinaykumar has just adopted an Asiatic lion for one year.
