Wildlife week at Vizag zoo: Workshops, competitions and conservation activities

Nakul, the rhinoceros, relaxes in a water pool along with painted storks at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Visakhapatnam. | Photo Credit: KR Deepak What does it take for a butterfly, a bird or a wild animal to thrive beyond the boundaries of a zoo? This is the question that Wildlife Week at Indira Gandhi Zoological Park seeks to explore through a series of competitions, workshops and conservation activities from October 2 to 8.This year’s theme, ‘Connecting Habitats, Thriving Wildlife’, places emphasis on habitat protection, coexistence and the role of people in conserving biodiversity.The programme opens on October 2 at the Zoo Bioscope with a drawing competition from 10.20am to noon. The competition has three categories, with children from classes 1 to 5 working on ‘Wildlife in My Neighbourhood’, classes 6 to 10 exploring ‘Wildlife Corridors: Connecting Forests’ and intermediate to postgraduate participants taking up ‘Connecting Habitats, Thriving Wildlife: Building a Future of Coexistence’.The week will also use speech, art and performance to introduce different aspects of conservation. An elocution competition on October 3 will invite participants from class 1 to postgraduate level to speak on either the role of zoos in wildlife conservation or wildlife and tribal communities. Participants will have three to five minutes to present their speeches, with the organisers encouraging the use of facts, examples and original ideas.Conservation through participationOn October 4, International Zoo Keeper’s Day will be marked with a photography competition for animal keepers. A fancy dress competition for children aged three to 12 will be held at the Zoo Bioscope from 10am to noon with participants invited to dress as wildlife, birds, veterinarians, forest officers, animal keepers or other Nature-related themes.The following day, the zoo will turn its attention to conservation education and outreach. A session introducing participants to Indira Gandhi Zoological Park and wildlife management will be followed by a quiz competition. On October 6, participants will take up wildlife-human coexistence, examining the challenges that arise when people and wild animals share landscapes and considering possible solutions. The poster presentation competition, open to participants aged seven to 22, will give them two minutes to explain their ideas and key messages.Looking closely at butterflies Butterflies flutter through the Butterfly Park at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park in Visakhapatnam. The park’s lush vegetation and host plants provide a thriving habitat for a variety of butterfly species and other pollinators. | Photo Credit: KR Deepak The butterfly workshop on October 7 is among the more hands-on programmes in the week’s schedule. Held from 10am to noon at the Zoo Bioscope and open to all age groups, it will introduce participants to butterflies, their life cycle, butterfly rearing and the identification of host and nectar plants.Participants will be introduced to the distinction between host plants, on which butterflies lay their eggs and caterpillars feed, and nectar plants, which provide food for adult butterflies. Understanding this relationship also explains why a butterfly-friendly garden needs more than flowering plants with the right vegetation at different stages of the insect’s life.The zoo already uses its butterfly park as a conservation education space. According to the zoo curator G Mangamma, the park has endemic host and nectar plants that attract butterflies to feed and breed. Around 30 butterfly species can be observed in the garden, while more than 120 species have been recorded across the zoo premises.For details, contact zoo education officer at 7893632900 or mail at igzpeo@gmail.com. Published - October 02, 2026 09:14 am IST