CM’s plan to relocate city zoo triggers debate

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan’s “dream project” to shift the Thiruvananthapuram zoo outside the city limits to Neyyar or some forest area and transform the freed-up space into a city square has activists and city residents concerned.

Talking about facilities to attract visitors and ensure that they stayed longer in the State, Mr. Satheesan asked whether the zoo should continue to exist in the heart of the city. “It is cruelty to animals. They have their own habitat. We should shift them to Neyyar or some forest area, to an environment suited to their habitat.”

The freed-up space should be developed into a beautiful square similar to Madison Square in New York or that in Prague. It should have all facilities for visitors, Mr. Satheesan said.

However, activists have expressed concern over the proposal. Writer and activist Sreedevi S. Kartha, in a social media post, termed the idea strange.