ludhiana the adopt an animal scheme of the wildlife department seems to have no takers at the tiger safari the only zoo here as not many animals lovers or institutions are coming forward to adopt them lack of awareness apprehensions among people regarding use of money money donated for the purpose of adoption and comparatively high prices are being seen as the major reason for the lukewarm response to the scheme the department had launched an animal adoption scheme under which any resident could adopt an animal or bird in the ludhiana zoo by paying an annual caretaking fee and could also avail of tax benefits as well the amount was to be deposited in the account of the zoo development society according to the officials at the tiger safari while no individual came forward last year only two institutions delhibased ajmera charitable trust and local khalsa college for women approached the zoo authorities the latter disclosed that the delhibased trust adopted male tiger deepak for 1 year from april 1 2019 to march 31 2020 for an annual fee of rs 206400 while khalsa college for women made contributions and adopted a black buck and peacock for six monthsthe outdoor zoo at present is home to royal bengal tiger jackal emu himalayan black bear porcupines sambar barking deer and black buck among other animal species the birds include peacock white dove silver golden and yellow golden pheasant rose ringed parakeet small birds and ducks this year the zoo is all set to welcome new inmates two royal bengal tigresses have already arrived while efforts to bring in a third royal bengal tigress himalayan black bears two new species of birds gharials and deer are going onkhushwinder singh divisional forest officer said more people need to come up for the adoption of more animals for awareness care and better upkeep of animals officials said the procedure for adoption was simple and just required filling of a form and depositing of money at the zoo the adoption can be both on monthly as well as yearly basis with one month being the minimum adoption period and at least four birds have to be adoptedzoo officials mention that the actual cost for upkeep of a tiger is much higher than the adoption fee the rates if compared to the actual spending on the upkeep of animals including their feed and medication is quite less the cost of meat bought for the feed of tigers is around rs 632 lakh annually while the annual adoption fee of tiger stands at rs 206400 as per revised rates said narinder singh forest inchargeforest department offers several privileges to those who go in for adoption like getting free passes to visit zoo with their family four times in a year a certificate from the director zoo receipt of donation that can be used to get tax rebate name of adopter is mentioned near the enclosure of the adopted animal and special invitation is given to