Founder director of Pilikula zoo quits under controversial circumstances citing ‘personal reasons’

Founder director of Pilikula zoo quits under controversial circumstances citing ‘personal reasons’

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, March 21, 2025: The founder director of over two-decade old Pilikula Biological Park (zoo) H. Jayaprakash Bhandary has quit from his post citing “personal reasons” under controversial circumstances.

Mr. Bhandary put in his papers on March 3. After Pilikula Development Authority (PDA) accepted his papers Mr. Bhandary got himself relieved as the director of the park on March 19, Wednesday. The PDA has now posted an in charge director on temporary basis.

A former Deputy Conservator of Forests, Mr. Bhandary, joined the zoo as its director from April, 2004 after he retired as Regional Director (Environment) Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), Mangaluru in March, 2004.

After he took charge as the director of the zoo, it was upgraded as small zoo in 2006 and medium zoo in 2009. The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) recognised it as the large or major zoo in 2013.

The country has 18 large zoos among 150 recognised zoos in the country. Pilikula is one among the 18 major zoos.

Opposition to Kambala

As the director of the park last year Mr. Bhandary opposed the move of Dakshina Kannada district administration preparing to resume a defunct Kambala promoted by it near the zoo inside the sprawling Dr. Shivarama Karantha Pilikula Nisargadhama, on the ground that high decibel noise of Kambala will come in the way of safety of captive animals in the zoo. He said that it is not prudent to hold Kambala near the zoo.

In his two letters to M.P. Mullai Muhilan, Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada, on September 6, 2024 Mr. Bhandary requested Mr. Muhilan, who is also the chairman of PDA, to declare 500 m radius of the zoo as “silent zone” and said that in earlier Kambalas held in Pilikula a decade ago, the zoo animals exhibited abnormal behaviour and took a couple of weeks to return to normalcy. Now the zoo had about 1,250 wild captive animals.

The CZA in its December 2, 2024 letter to the director of the park asked to “...ensure that no disruptive events including Kambala are organised in or near the zoo premises.”

At the same time, the PETA India filed a PIL before Karnataka High Court on the matter. Later the State government did not hold the Kambala at Pilikula as scheduled on November 17, 2024. The matter is now before the court.

Transfer of zoo

The Technical Committee of the CZA in its 106th meeting on September 27, 2022 renewed the licence of the zoo till December 1, 2025. While doing so, the CZA made certain recommendations. One of the recommendations read: “... The zoo is functioning under PDA. The director in charge of the zoo, does not have adequate financial delegation to manage the day to day business of the zoo efficiently without loss of time. The PDA is not sufficiently sensitive to the need of the zoo. It will make a much better sense to transfer the zoo to Karnakata Forest Department for better co-ordination to address human wildlife conflict, better sensitivity towards the need of captive animals and eventually better management with the help of a director who is appropriately delegated...”

Following this, Mr. Bhandary in his December 20, 2022 letter to the then Commissioner of the PDA wrote: “...It would be wise to hand over the zoo to Karnataka Zoo Authority (under Forest Department) or to any CZA recognised institution which has sufficient fund and expertise to manage a large zoo...”

In his another letter to the Deputy Conservator Forests (DCF), Mangaluru Division, on February 2, 2023 Mr. Bhandary said that after the zoo was brought under the PDA it was difficult to manage the zoo “due to delay in utilising the fund by PDA on time.” “...Some emergency works which are required for the safety of captive animals and life of visitors could not be attended on time, since the present administration has no basic knowledge of managing a zoo.”

Later the then Chairman of the authority and also the then Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada M.R. Ravikumar on June 7, 2023 wrote to V. Abhishek, the then Commissioner of PDA, to transfer the zoo to the Forest Department within July 31, 2023. It was for better operation and maintenance as recommended by the CZA.

But in the developments which unfolded later, the PDA resisted this move and said that the zoo will remain with it.

With no budgetary grant from the government to the PDA since it came into being on December 24, 2019 the zoo remains the major revenue earner to it. The zoo depends on gate collection, donations and animal adoption scheme for its survival with no annual budgetary grant from the government.