Drastic reduction in revenue earned by National Zoological Dept.

By Ifham Nizam

The annual revenue of the Department of National Zoological Gardens, which was around one billion rupees in 2018, fell to Rs. 204 million in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department’s Annual Performance Report for the latter year shows. The 2020 income is the lowest the Department earned since 2010.

The income of the department also declined in 2019 due to the Easter Sunday attacks. Between 2014 and 2018 the department annually made about a billion rupees a year.

The Dehiwala Zoo earned Rs. 43.78 million in 2020. Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage made Rs. 117.52 million, Pinnawala Zoo made Rs. 11.95 million and Ridiyagama Safari Park made Rs. 31.48 million. A total of 629,209 local and 54,489 foreign tourists visited these establishments in 2020.

There were 3,485 animals at the Dehiwala Zoo by the end of 2020, 82 Asian Elephants at Pinnawala Elephant Orphanage, 3485 animals in Pinnawala Zoo and 826 animals in Ridiyagama Safari Park.

Expenditure incurred by the Government Consolidated Fund at the end of the year 2020 to upkeep the Department was Rs.733.6 million.