It’s jaguar Javagal Srinath in Mysore Zoo

DHNS

• Speedster adopts one of the fastest animals on earth

Mysore, 29 August 2010: Pace had thrilled Javagal Srinath, and he went on to become, according to cricket experts, the fastest Test bowler India has ever produced. At his fastest best, the former India pacer had clocked 156km/hour. 

 
Seven years after his retirement from international cricket, speed continues to thrill Srinath––now off the field. On Saturday, Srinath zeroed in on a jaguar for adoption at the century-old-Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens in Mysore.

“I adopted jaguar because of its speed and mercurial action”, the cricketer who retired with 236 Test wickets and 315 one-day scalps said. Actually, jaguar is not the fastest animal on earth. At its best, a jaguar can clock about 70km/hour. But like Srinath’s bowling, jaguar is considered to be extremely accurate when it comes to claiming its victim. Probably, that is what clinched Srinath’s choice for adoption.

Srinath, now an international match referee, was in the city to launch the animal adoption scheme. He chose a jaguar for adoption as he formally launched the adoption scheme at the city zoo. The zoo had procured a pair of jaguars from Delhi’s National Zoological Park in 2005 under an exchange programme.

A Mysorean, Srinath became nostalgic as he entered the zoo premise with his little son, Aadesh and his friends. “I am recollecting my childhood days of visiting the zoo. A lot of changes have taken place since then. The zoo has been maintained very well,” he said.
Though he preferred a jaguar, Srinath said it did not “mean that I hate other animals. To me, one should not discriminate among animals. I like all animals and birds, but my first love is jaguar,” he said. The former cricketer has plans to impress upon other cricketers to adopt animals at the zoo. Anil Kumble, his teammate during their playing days, was doing a wonderful job as vice-chairman of the State Wildlife Board, he said. 

He plans to bring current Indian speedster Zaheer Khan, who too has shown keen interest in animal adoption, to the Mysore Zoo. If he so chooses, Zaheer too may get to adopt a speed animal––a lion from his home state of Gujarat or the fastest one cheetah.
According to M N Jayakumar, member-secretary, Zoo Authority of Karnataka and additional principal chief conservator of forests, the zoo will soon get a pair of Asiatic Lion from Gujarat, thanks to Kumble’s initiatives.  The lions are expected to arrive sometime in next month.

Jayakumar said the zoo will  get four pairs of hunting cheetahs from South Africa. They will be sent by air from South Africa via Germany.

The process of obtaining those cheetahs is in final stages. The cheetahs are expected to arrive in Mysore Zoo within two months.