The Treasury has agreed to provide Rs. 20 million to feed the animals at the Dehiwala Zoo for the next five months of this year Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Conservation Mahinda Amaraweera said.
Due to the current economic crisis, there was a shortage of funds to feed the animals at the Dehiwala Zoo. It was revealed that the Court had also assigned the Dehiwala Zoo the responsibility of maintaining a large number of elephants, especially those related to Court cases at a cost of around Rs. 45 million annually.
As a result, the money allocated to feed the animals at the Dehiwala Zoo was running out and the declining number of local and foreign visitors had also contributed to the declining daily income.
In this regard, the Minister of Agriculture, Wildlife and Forest Conservation Mahinda Amaraweera requested the Treasury to provide financial assistance to provide animal feed for the next five months.
Last Friday (24) the Minister of Agriculture visited the Dehiwala Zoo to inquire into the problems and held discussions with the relevant officials. At that time the Minister said that the Government has agreed to provide Rs.20 million.
The issue of obtaining fuel for vehicles to feed the animals was also discussed at this meeting and accordingly the Minister had a telephone discussion with the Chairman of the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and took action to arrange a program to supply fuel to the zoo.
The Minister said that the Government will not starve any of the animals in our zoos and will take steps to provide the necessary solutions to the problems of the people in the country through maximum intervention despite the economic problems. The Minister also instructed that steps be taken to resume the animal exchange programme which was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that although there was a need to obtain some exotic animals for the zoo at present, there was a problem due to the non-implementation of the animal exchange programme.
Secretary to the Ministry of Wildlife and Forest Conservation Mrs. Chandra Herath was also present on the occasion.
