State's first butterfly park opens in Belvai

August 18, 2013
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Mangalore, Aug 18: Who doesn't like the colourful wings of butterfly fluttering and swaying in the air, hopping over flowers? Well, everyone does but not many spare a minute to think of the fact that how extinct these wonderful creatures have become.

However, looking at the toll modern lifestyle has taken on these tiny creatures an avid butterfly lover and conservationist Sammilan Shetty took a step towards preserving the butterfly species and this step has brought him to the inauguration of a 'Butterfly Park' at Belvai near Karkala, on Sunday.

Named as 'Sammilan Shetty's Butterfly Park', this is the first of its kind in the state. The dedication and planning of two years has finally culminated into an exclusive park for butterflies, with 113 butterfly species living over 7.35 acre land.

Speaking about his love for butterflies, Mr Shetty said that his interest grew while he was working on a project on 'Study of local butterflies'. His Zoology lecturer Ashok C H had designated the topic to him.

Slowly observing the creature, he made up his mind to have park for these creatures which were becoming victim to man's extreme meddling with nature.

“I came across a book on gardening of butterflies authored by Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) Programmes-General Manager Isaac Kehimkar. Taking clues from the book, I too started to plant nectarine flower saplings that attract butterflies, and created an atmosphere that is suitable for the butterflies to lay eggs and breed in the park,” he said.

Dr Arunachalam Kumar, Director of Nitte University (Research and Development) said that thermal power plants are harmful to butterflies as it affects the metamorphosis phase. He said that setting up of power plant at a distance of 15 km would definitely affect the butterfly park.

Karnataka State Wildlife Board Member Dr N A Madhyastha said that butterflies are ecological indicators.

Portal publicflyparkbelvai.com too was launched on the occasion. The website comprises information about butterflies and the butterfly park. The park developed at a cost of Rs five lakh, will be open for public on every Sunday from 8.30 am to 12.30 pm.

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Comments

santhosh s
 - 
Wednesday, 6 Apr 2016

Am doing butterfly project ( M.Sc project) in Karanji lake mysuru, if you provide an apportunity to do work on butterflies any where in Karnataka. Please its my humbnle request to you.

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News Network
May 21,2020

Shivamogga, May 21: A quarantine facility at Bapuji Nagar in Shivamogga on Wednesday evening was vandalised, by a group of people. leading to chaos.

The police had to resort to baton-charge to control the situation.

Locals were opposing the facility, which is being used to isolate travellers from different states in the view of coronavirus.

Deputy Commissioner KB Sivakumar said that the police department will investigate and book a case against the protesters.

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News Network
March 7,2020

Mangaluru, Mar 7: After coronavirus cases were confirmed in different parts of the country, there has been a sudden jump in demand for mask and safety gears like gloves and sanitizers in Mangaluru and Udupi.

With the increase in demand, medical shop owners said that they were finding it difficult to meet the demand.

In fact, there is a demand for bulk supply of masks and gloves. There was demand for masks when Covid-19 was confirmed in China two months ago. Bulk quantities of masks were purchased in order to supply them to Indian employees working in China. A few private firms had purchased masks from Mangaluru in the month of December.

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News Network
January 12,2020

With an aim to provide water to stray animals in Mangaluru, an animal activist announced a project 'Jal' under which free water bowls will be distributed to the people across the city.

Tauseef Ahmed believes many animals and birds do not find source to drink water which leads to death.
"Finding clean and safe drinking water has been a major issue in a lot of places. We humans when we face some scarcity we manage by taking the water out from the well," Ahmed told ANI.

"Unfortunately, that's not the case with when it comes to animals and birds. They do not find sources for water to drink so they eventually end up drinking sewage water and they fall sick. In some cases, even that is not available and due to dehydration, they die," he added.

Under the "Jal" project, Ahmed will distribute free water bowls to the people and expects them to make equal efforts in saving the lives of the animals.

"So, this project "Jal" will be providing 100 free water bowls all over Mangaluru. We are distributing it free of cost. All you have to do is keep the bowls outside in the garden or any places where animals frequently visit. Every day, we just have to fill the bowls with water for the animals. It will help a lot of animals to survive in the harsh weather of summers," Ahmed highlighted.

"We have used cement to make the bowls which will keep the eater really cool. We are spending close to 74 rs per bowl. We have made around 100 bowls and will continue making it. We are trying to cover as many animals as we can," he said.

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