Written by V Balachandran, the book, along with 250 photographs by Suresh Elmon, is brought to you by the Department of Museums and Zoos in association with WWF.
Written by V Balachandran, the book, along with 250 photographs by Suresh Elmon, is brought to you by the Department of Museums and Zoos in association with WWF.
Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, perhaps the oldest in India, and a lion in its enclosure, Simba, inspired Booker Prize winner Yann Martel’s bestseller life of Pi, Now, a bilingual coffee-table book on that zoo, Emerald Isle – A Walk in Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, Describes its history and describes how it has evolved over the years from a place to ‘see’ wild animals, which is at the forefront of conservation efforts. The book, in English and Malayalam, was launched at the beginning of Wildlife Week in early October by the Department of Museums and Zoos in association with the World Wildlife Fund.
The darter or snake bird’s nest in the premises of Thiruvananthapuram zoo. photo credit: Suresh Elmon
Situated on 55 acres in the heart of the city, it includes a lake and a rich botanical garden. S Abu, director of the Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo, says, “Written by conservation enthusiast V Balachandran, the book was made possible thanks to the World Wildlife Fund. It features 250 photographs clicked by award-winning wildlife photographer Suresh Elmon. We visited the zoo. focused, changes over the years, conservation and breeding efforts etc.
Balachandran leads Pathak from the entrance of the zoo to the enclosures, one after the other, till the exit. Apart from the inhabitants of the zoo, birds visiting the lake and zoo premises, butterflies and dragonflies flying around the botanical garden and some unique trees in the garden are also mentioned.
Southern Birdwing | photo credit: Suresh Elmon
Balachandran, often referred to as thumbi appan (Dragonfly Grandfather) admits to his passion for documenting dragonflies and damsels that he is not fond of the concept of the coffee table book as he finds them superficial and just a collection of beautiful photographs. Nevertheless, he decided to do his best to introduce readers to the kings and experts who contributed to the development of the zoo and how it has kept abreast of developments in animal care.
He traces the development of zoos from the era of ‘travel zoos’, which were a common sight at fairs and exhibition grounds. “I saw the festival at the Bhagavathy temple in Mandaikadu in Kanyakumari district about 20 years ago. Many animals were in pitiable condition, confined in small cages. Those traveling people have disappeared from Kerala. However, the sight of those animals scared me forever,” says Balachandran, who is a big fan of naturalist and author Gerald Durrell. He says that zoos have negative and positive aspects. There are zoos that help breed rare animals and engage in research, he explains.
Hippopotamus at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo | photo credit: Suresh Elmon
The first chapter of the book traces the development of Thiruvananthapuram Zoo from the reign of Swathi Thirunal (1816 to 1846). He had a private menagerie in the Eastern Fort area. During the reign of his successor Utram Thirunal, the Napier Museum was established and the zoo was shifted to its present location to attract visitors to the museum and museum. The zoo was opened to the public in 1857.
One of the tigers in Thiruvananthapuram zoo | photo credit: Suresh Elmon
During his research for the book, Balachandran came to know about the work of Reverend ST Pettigrew, a pastor of the CSI Church in Thiruvananthapuram (1874–77), who had served as the zoo’s curator for nearly four years. “Petigre wrote a book anonymously, Life of an Indian Pastor, where he talks about his work in Thiruvananthapuram. A brilliant work, it is available in the archives and a chapter of the book is dedicated to his work for the zoo,” he says.
Although a copy was issued, Abu says, work is underway to review the initial copy and add some details. He said that the department is planning a book on flora in the premises of Napier Museum and Zoo. “Home of over 400 varieties of trees, we have many rare species of trees. For example, we have one of the oldest rubber trees in India. It was imported from Brazil by Visakham Thirunal Rama Varma during his reign from 1880 to 1885,” says Abu.