Debating what would reside in the pit, a group of youngsters gather around a termite mound with much enthusiasm. While ‘snake’ seemed to be the popular opinion for what might inhabit the underground dwelling, presence of monitor lizard further increases their curiosity.
Their barrage of questions are patiently answered by a zoo official along with the explanation on how termite mounds are formed. This visitor engagement is an offshoot of Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park's (SVZP) initiative to introduce an interpretation centre — Nature School at the menagerie; to unite the experiences of entertainment and learning.
The centre, established a couple of months ago at SVZP, aims at educating the visitors on wildlife alongside sensitising them to the need for conserving nature.
“We have set up a wide range of learning resources for the visitors. Our main aim is to deviate from the ‘typical trip to the zoo’ with a more educative and fun sojourn, particularly for children,” said SVZP Curator Y. Srinivasulu Reddy. Speaking to The Hindu , Mr. Reddy said such a facility, to some extent, would motivate visitors to take up the much-needed cause of safeguarding nature.
For this, the zoo management has designed a wide-range of posters depicting information about wild animals such as food pyramids, identification of pugmarks, types of beaks and claws among birds, skin patterns, classifications, habitats and distribution.
This is further augmented by a mini viewing hall to air documentaries on global warming, zoo orientation, feedback and several other related topics. “We have created several videos highlighting the animals present in the zoo park, including the young ones, along with their behaviour patterns. We also have movies with forest-based themes, issues concerning the environment and other videos. We will also be setting up medicinal plants with detailed information on their availability and uses,” said SVZP employees K. Vinod and G. Pratap.
'Souvenir Shop'
The SVZP officials have also introduced a ‘souvenir shop’ to help visitors remember their trip to the zoo park. A range of items such as sculptures, products from the Girigan Cooperative Corporation (GCC) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF) currently occupy the shelves. Souvenirs linked to SVZP, both regular and personalised ones, would be introduced in a few days, they added. Besides this, the officials are also gearing up to recruit 'Zoo Volunteers', between classes 8 and10, to educate the visitors about animals at their enclosures.
