Kerala   

Crocodile park sheds Steve Irwin’s name

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Wildlife Department has dropped the name of legendary Australian television personality and wildlife expert Steve Irwin from the title of its crocodile park at Neyyar, in Thiruvananthapuram district, to avoid the charge of violating intellectual property rights.

Steve Irwin’s widow Terri Irwin had sent a legal notice to the Wildlife Department few months ago alleging violation of intellectual property rights in using her late husband’s name for the crocodile park.

The department had given his name to the park, which had been in existence since 1977, to honour him for his work as a conservationist, but did not seek Ms. Irwin’s consent for doing so.

The naming happened in 2006, soon after Steve Irwin was killed while filming in Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, pierced in the chest by a stingray barb.

“We had no intention of violating intellectual property rights.

“We meant it as a token of our respect for him and his work as a naturalist and conservationist,” Kerala Chief Wildlife Warden K.P. Ouseph told The Hindu on Friday.

The park, situated close to the Neyyar Dam on the foothills of the Agasthyavanam Biosphere in South India, will henceforth be known as ‘Agasthya Crocodile Rehabilitation and Research Centre.’ It is home to a large gathering of fresh water crocodiles, known as ‘muggers.’

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Long-term capital gains
Index to cover more cities
Reaching out to people with simple themes
Season special
Thennala panel begins work
All set for second Indian expedition to the Arctic
Green initiative
Crocodile park sheds Steve Irwin’s name
For a green city
‘Haritha Keralam’ launched

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu