String of animal deaths at Delhi zoo exposes poor medical infrastructure

The National Zoological Park (NZP) in Delhi has witnessed a string of animal deaths over the past month, sparking concerns over the zoo’s medical infrastructure and acute shortage of trained staff.

On September 17, two zebra finches were found dead, with samples sent for testing to determine the cause. A day later, Shankar, the zoo’s three-decade-old African elephant, died suddenly, drawing renewed attention to the lack of timely veterinary care. Earlier this month, five of six tiger cubs born to tigress Aditi did not survive, with officials admitting that delayed diagnosis and limited critical-care facilities reduced their chances.

In late August, cases of avian influenza had claimed the lives of painted storks, forcing emergency quarantine measures.

Commenting on the deaths of the tiger cubs, zoo director Sanjeet Kumar had told The Tribune that these losses are part of a natural process, particularly for newborns in large litters.

“In such cases, only 40–50% of cubs survive,” he explained. While two cubs died shortly after birth, three later succumbed to an unidentified infection. One cub remains alive, but officials have not disclosed its current condition or the findings of diagnostic tests.

The zoo’s veterinary infrastructure adds another layer of complexity.

Official sources at the zoo said that the decades-old animal hospital lacks modern equipment and sufficient staff. Currently, just one veterinary officer, an assistant, and a compounder oversee hundreds of animals, assisted by daily-wage workers who cannot be trained extensively due to high turnover.

A full team — including pathologists, lab technicians, and hand-rearing specialists — remains a distant goal. Funding for a new, modern hospital has been proposed at around Rs 500–600 crore, but bureaucratic processes have delayed implementation, a source had told the Tribune.

Beyond medical care, the zoo employs roughly 300–350 people covering security, sanitation, gardening, animal care, and administration. Yet permanent staffing is limited, and supervisory roles are often thinly stretched.

“Some key posts are necessary for accountability, but it’s very tough to restructure and hire permanent staff,” Kumar had said.

Dr Faiyaz Khudsar, a wildlife biologist, noted that captivity can induce stress and weaken animals’ immune systems, making them more susceptible to disease.

“Because the immune system has been weakened, the power to fight disease is automatically reduced,” he explained.

The Capital’s zoo lacks in-house facilities of testing and postmortem. Samples of migratory painted stork that died of H5NI virus were sent to the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases (NIHSAD), Bhopal. Recently, after African Elephant Shankar’s death, the body was sent to Indian Veterinary Research Institute is located in Bareilly.