The Nandankanan Zoological Park (NZP) in Bhubaneswar has revived its ‘Adopt-an-animal’ program after the COVID shutdown. The adoption scheme is now back online. 'I live in Hyderabad and have an attachment towards animals. From childhood, I used to feed animals. During the lockdown, I got to know they have revived the ‘Adopt-an-animal’ scheme and now it is available online also. Adoption is available from 500 rupees. I adopted a Himalayan black bear, which was in my range,’ said Swapnajit Patnaik who visited the park. ‘People have adopted 170 -175 animals in the last 6 to 7 months. With this, we have earned almost 23 lakh rupees. The adoption scheme is available online also. 60% adoption has reported from our state, Odisha only, 12 other states including Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Maharashtra coming forward to adopt animals, we getting a good response. Our purpose behind the scheme is to spread the message of conservation, not just earn money,’ said Shashi Paul, Director of Nandankanan Biological Park. Zoo had started the scheme in 2018 but due to a few issues, it failed to gain momentum. However, it has garnered a good response after the COVID shutdown.