Zoo ready to accept NRI’s black panther, jaguar from Ukraine

Mysuru: The Zoo Authority of Karnataka chairman LR Mahadevaswamy on Tuesday said that the Mysuru Zoo has space to accommodate a jaguar and a black panther that are being nurtured by an NRI in war-ravaged Ukraine who wants to return to India. Mahadevaswamy said the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) has to agree to the proposal first.
Mahadevaswamy said the doctor, who is a native of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, had written to the Indian government seeking permission to relocate the big cats that he has been keeping at his place.
He had sought permission to keep the animals privately but Indian law does not permit it. The government has suggested that he move the animals to any Indian zoo.
Mahadevaswamy said the government had suggested the Mysuru Zoo to him, but there is no formal word on it yet. “We are happy to receive them (the animals). The zoo has had these species for two-and-a-half decades and we have experts, sufficient enclosures and facilities to keep them, provided CZA permits us to,” he said.
An official of the zoo said he was not aware of such a development but confirmed that the zoo has the infrastructure to keep big cats.
The Central Zoo Authority has the power to decide on such an issue, the official said.