The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Animal Planet to tie up with Bannerghatta park

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 10, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Animal Planet to tie up with Bannerghatta park

By Divya Sreedharan

BANGALORE, JUNE 9. Animal Planet, a channel specialising in wildlife, plans a tie-up with the "Bannerghatta National Park" (BNP), but senior Forest Department officials apparently know nothing about it.

The channel's global head, Peter Weil, will be in Bangalore on Thursday for a media interaction. Deepak Shourie, managing director, Discovery Communications India (part of the company that owns Animal Planet) will then announce "the channel's tie-up with the BNP."

But the Bannerghatta Biological Park, (BBP), Deputy Conservator of Forests, Markhandaiah, says the project is at an early stage. "Their (Animal Planet) representative came here a month ago, saying they want to associate with us. Initially, they say, they will sponsor signages and information kiosks in the zoo and safari area (under the BBP and not the BNP). Long-term plans are yet to be discussed," he says.

Annually, the BPP gets some 10 lakh visitors. It requires no outside "sponsorship" as revenue is good. Mr. Markhandaiah expects the park to double its revenue this year. "Last year, we had a revenue of Rs. 1.78 crore, and this year we expect it to be Rs. 3.5 crore," he says.

The Principal Secretary, Department of Forests, Environment and Ecology, N. Gokulram, however, does not know about the project. And so is the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Forests and Wildlife), R.M. Ray. Mr Ray feels the proposed project could be an "exploratory move by the parties concerned."

The park is self-sufficient, he stresses. "We don't need any support. We have our own vision and we don't need placards from a private company inside the park," he adds.

In the West, corporate businesses are involved in wildlife conservation. For instance, this February the U.S. Government and the Travel Industry Association of America agreed to work together "to promote the 388 national parks, monuments, and historic sites in the U.S. National Park System."

While agencies such as the Maryland-based Wildlife Habitat Council - described as the first cooperative effort between environmentalists and industry - hail such moves, others disagree.

The website www.yosemitevalley.org believes the U.S. park service "is going too far in terms of promoting America's public treasures as commercial destinations." The website adds that in tourism "cooperation agreements result in a weakening of governments' decision-making power, with the dominating private partners appropriating public agendas."

When The Hindu tried to get the Animal Planet officials, it was told they would not comment before the press conference.

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