This year in the days leading up to Onam, the Thiruvananthapuram zoo welcomed three zebras – one male and two female – from the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (Vantara) at Jamnagar in Gujarat.
| Photo Credit: NIRMAL HARINDRAN
New arrivals at the Thiruvananthapuram city zoo seem to have had the desired impact on the footfall during the Onam holidays this year.Two days of rain and a half-day holiday on account of the valedictory of the Onam week fete notwithstanding, the zoo and museum complex in the city saw an increase in its revenue collection during the Onam holidays from August 25 to 30 this year as compared to the collection last year.In the six days from August 25 to 30, the total revenue collection for the zoo and museums was ₹29.97 lakh, over ₹7 lakh more than the revenue collection of ₹22.53 lakh during the Onam period from September 3 to 9 last year.A total of 55,860 visitors thronged the zoo and museum complex. The revenue from the zoo tickets alone was ₹22.93 lakh. In 2025, the zoo ticket collection from September 3 to 9 was ₹17.10 lakh.After a decadeThis year in the days leading up to Onam, the zoo welcomed three zebras – one male and two female – from the Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (Vantara) at Jamnagar in Gujarat. This marks the return of the zebras to the zoo after a decade.Two seven-month-old lion cubs named Suri and Simba also made their public debut in the run-up to Onam. Born to lion pair Nayla and Leo, the cubs were till then put up in an enclosure away from public eyes. Their release into a shaded open enclosure also drew a good response, especially from large groups of students visiting the facility.The aquarium on the zoo and museum campus was another big draw, with the collection there totalling ₹.2.51 lakh.The collection from the Napier Museum, Natural History Museum, and the Sree Chithra Art Gallery together came to ₹3.5 lakh. Published - September 01, 2026 09:04 pm IST
