This is the second part of the three-part series on ‘animal plight in the Delhi zoo‘ as a part of the Justicemakers’ Writer’s Training Program, run in partnership with Agami and Ashoka’s Law For All Initiative. The first and third parts can be found here and here.
I would like to start by quoting some statistics and facts to do with animal captivity. Did you know there are more tigers in American zoos than there are free and roaming, globally? Also, animal abuse is widespread, and seen in about 75% of zoos and aquariums.
Are you aware that so-called “surplus animals” in the zoos are killed even if they are healthy? The annual expenditure on wildlife conservation amounts to over $350 million. But, where does it all go?
The below given charts talk about the revenue collected by the Delhi Zoo, and the amount spent by it.
If you add these numbers up, there is a discrepancy of ₹4,259.23 lakh. Where is the extra money coming from? Where is this money going to? One thing is for sure: the money is not going into the care of animals.
About The Delhi Zoo’s So-Called Hospital
The images you see next have been directly taken from the official, government-owned website of the Delhi Zoo. In the section on animal health and veterinary care, it says that:
“The zoo has a Veterinary Hospital on the campus with a laboratory facility and required personnel. They take care of preventive measures including routine checkup of animals and also treatment of ailing, injured, sick, or senile animals.”
Nowhere in the description does it say that they have hired veterinarians. Even when you further explore the website, all you see are pictures of police personnel collecting information, and a person in protective gear spraying something.
Do you know why we can see these mysterious pictures on the zoo’s website?
The Print said that “shocking and startling facts” were revealed about the Delhi Zoo in a government report. It is alleged that the operations, wound dressings and medications of the animals in zoos, are being carried out by daily wage labourers, who have no formal qualification in the field.
The report says that, “It is not out of place to mention here that the National Zoological Park (Delhi Zoo) has seen a large number of deaths of captive animals in the zoo in the last few years, which is alarming.”
This was bound to happen when critical operations are carried out by novices without formal training. What could go wrong? Several innocent animals were murdered because a daily wage labourer had no idea what he was doing. This is the condition of the Delhi Zoo’s veterinary hospital.
Various reports paint a dismal picture of the apathy zoo animals face on day to day basis. A Times of India report based on an RTI (right to information) reply says that, “The zoo had reportedly recorded 325 animal deaths in 2016-’17. The zoos’ postmortem register records all the deaths on its premises.”
The Delhi Zoo Underreported Animal Deaths
As per the Recognition of Zoo Rules, a detailed post-mortem examination must be done to conclusively determine the cause of death of animals. Its records maintained for a minimum period of six years.
If everything in the zoo is above board, why the hesitation to get the postmortems done? This move raises doubts and points fingers towards foul play.
Apart from the postmortem register, every zoo has to mandatorily submit an annual inventory report, as per the rules. The details read:
“The zoo submits the mandatory annual inventory report—opening and closing stock for each species with details of the acquisition, birth, and death—along with the mortality data that includes the date and cause of death to the Central Zoo Authority (CZA).”
A discrepancy was also noticed in the reporting of dead animals. The 2017-’18 inventory of animals of the Delhi Zoo shows 91 dead. But, the annual mortality list submitted to the CZA lists only 75 animals. When the postmortem register of Delhi zoo was accessed by The Indian Express, there were a lot of surprises waiting.
They noticed that pages 101-150 were missing from the postmortem register, and pages 154-200 were blank. While page 153 recorded the post-mortem of a blackbuck on October 3, 2017, the next entry is of the death of an Indian lion on November 4, 2017, on page 201.
Scraps of paper were placed between the blank pages, in which 28 deaths were recorded in a handwritten manner.
Even the three, official, post-mortem entries of two blackbucks and a spotted deer (on pages 151-153) were not reported in the mortality list.
The Case Of Missing Animals
The zoo maintains files on ailing animals sent to the hospital. Data accessed by The Indian Express showed that 67 animals were shifted to the hospital between April and December 2017, for treatment. Of these, only 16 were recorded as “returned” to their enclosures.
When the CZA chief was asked about the 51 missing animals, all he had to say was that, “We are looking into the matter.” The CZA suggested the zoo officials lodge a police complaint as it could have something to do with the missing pages in the post-mortem register.
While the Delhi Zoo has enough income to take care of its animals, I think that it chose not to. So, I conducted a survey to dig deeper. I did a baseline survey first. Initially, a majority of the respondents thought that the zoo animals were treated well.
In the survey that followed, after reading the facts mentioned in the article, respondents were shook to their core. Their ratings changed drastically.
All of the respondents had a change of heart and when they got to know about the reality of the situation; 92.5% of respondents said the zoo should be closed. Only 7.5% said that maybe, there is room for improvement.
The survey suggests that Delhi Zoo needs our immediate attention. I endorse the general sentiment of the people to shut down the zoo. The zoo officials are not able to take proper care of animals and as a result, there is a major loss of animal life. This injustice should no longer continue.
All the facts l listed above indicate serious negligence and apathy towards the caged animals. The zoo keepers should be the one looking after the animals as they are not in their natural habitats.
If the zoo authorities are not able to look after the animals, it is time set them free from their cages and let them live in jungles.