To: the Chief Minister of Kerala; the Minister for Museums and Zoos; the Mayor of Thiruvananthapuram; the Kerala State Biodiversity Board; the Central Zoo Authority

Since 1859, the zoo, Napier Museum and gardens at Vellayambalam have been one of the few places in Thiruvananthapuram where anyone can spend a day under old trees. It is the oldest zoo in India that still stands in its original location. Its 55 acres of woodland, lake and lawns are the city's green lung, a heritage landscape, and a commons shared by families, schoolchildren, walkers and workers from every background.

The Chief Minister has proposed moving the zoo to Neyyar and turning the site into a "Madison Square"-style public space, and has described the site as "prime land." The ground is already a public space, and it is far larger than the park he wants to copy. Decisions about it belong to the people who use it. They should not be announced at investment forums and travel marts.

We, residents and friends of Thiruvananthapuram, ask that:

1. The grounds stay public. Whatever is decided about the animals, all of the land remains government-owned and government-managed, and is never sold, leased or handed to private or public–private management.
2. Entry is for everyone. No one is kept out because of class, caste, religion, gender, age, disability or ability to pay. There should be no paid zones, ticketed enclosures or commercial carve-outs.
3. The green is protected in full. Every tree, the lake and the biodiversity are kept, with no new construction beyond what conservation and accessibility require.
4. The grounds get legal heritage protection. The grounds are declared a Biodiversity Heritage Site under Section 37 of the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and the zoo, museum, gallery and gardens are notified together as a protected heritage precinct.
5. Welfare comes first, on the existing site. The renovation already underway under the zoo's approved master plan is fully funded, noise from events at the government's neighbouring venues is controlled, and an independent welfare and ecological assessment is published before any relocation decision.
6. That assessment should include the record at Thrissur's Puthur park.
7. The people are consulted. Open public hearings are held in Malayalam and English before any plan is finalised.