Zoo closure affects Mysuru hotels

Mysuru: Several hotel owners staged a protest before the Mysuru zoo on Tuesday, claiming its month long closure had hit their business hard as there had been a  40 per cent fall in tourists coming to the city.

The Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Garden, popularly known as Mysuru zoo,  was closed for a month from  January 4 to February 2 after it was confirmed that six migratory birds found dead in its grounds had died of bird flu.

Going by the zoo's executive director, Ms Kamala. a Spot -billed pelican and three Greylag geese were found dead in a pond on December 28  and another Spot- billed Pelican and Greylag goose were found dead in the same pond on  December 30. But calling the decision "unscientific" Mysuru Hotel Owners Association president, Mr S Narayangowda, said since the zoo's closure the inflow of tourists to the city had fallen by 40 per cent. " There has to be an investigation to confirm if they had died of bird flu as there has been no instance of  birds dying at the nearby Karanji lake  which too receives a huge number of migratory birds," he said. Shopkeepers around the zoo also complained that their business was suffering since its closure.