Animal adoptions rise at Visakhapatnam zoo as families celebrate birthdays with wildlife

On the morning of his birthday, instead of gifts, chocolates, and cakes, Sohan Gowtham Yenneti had something else in mind. A frequent visitor to Visakhapatnam’s Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP), he wanted his special day to include the animal he always stopped to admire. He ‘adopted’ a red-necked wallaby under the zoo’s animal adoption programme, adding his name to a steadily expanding list of citizens who are finding uncommon ways to support wildlife conservation.