The iconic snake park in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai is on the verge of closure as the Covid-19 lockdown resulted in suspension of guests. This has led to the park not obtaining any revenue, a report by The IE citing the park’s management mentioned. It is to note that the park has been in the city for almost 5 decades. In 1972, the park was founded by Herpetologist Romus Whitaker and is a home for exotic species of turtles, lizards, 300 reptiles and 20 species of snakes.
According to the management of the Chennai Snake Park Trust, the spot has not seen any visitor due to the fact March 2020 following a Covid-19 induced lockdown. Due to this, the management is now struggling to spend its employees or preserve the park. In truth, feeding the reptiles present there has come to be tricky. The park has also witnessed downsizing as 20 employees members have been employed right here prior to the pandemic hit and now this quantity has gone down to 10. In truth, the individuals who are working right here are only receiving half their salary for more than a year now.
Dr S Paulraj, executive chairman of the Trust told The IE that all savings are becoming exhausted to handle the park since there was no revenue. Pualraj mentioned that sustaining a park with animals is a great deal unique from operating a enterprise. Even when there is no enterprise, the reptiles want to be fed. He highlighted that the park received a footfall of about 5,000 to 6,000 individuals on weekdays which was more than 10,000 on weekends prior to Covid-19 hit the nation. At that time, the park could effortlessly produce about Rs 75 lakh annually and an revenue of Rs 6 lakh per month. Of the total month-to-month revenue, Rs 4 lakh was utilised for salaries of personnel and Rs 2 lakh was used to feed the reptiles.
As the park was solely dependent on ticket sales for income, the lockdown effect was fairly negative. Even when the state government lifted some restrictions for a brief period of time just after the initial lockdown, there was not adequate footfall for them to survive, the report mentioned. After this, the park survived on some donations that it received from NGOs as element of their CSR activities along with their personal savings.
However, going forward, there is a shortage of funds. According to Paulraj, just after 10 years, the park was capable to increase the breeding of the critically endangered Gangetic Gharial. But now they do not have the indicates to safeguard it or provide nutritious meals that is necessary.
To be sure, the park comes beneath a non-profit organisation and consequently, it does not obtain any funding from the government, or other wildlife sanctuaries in the state. Meanwhile, they are hoping that Tamil Nadu government and other volunteers donate funds which can be used to run the park.