A first: Animal, bird imports to attract 30% customs duty

Many exotic species of birds, reptiles and amphibians are imported into India for commercial purposes. In 2024, National Zoological Park in Delhi attempted to reintroduce exotic species zebra and giraffe into its collection. It has reached out to the zoos in Dubai and Israel, and safari parks across Europe to acquire these two animals.

Last year, the Bannerghatta Biological Park (BBP) imported eight black-capped capuchin monkeys (Sapajus apella) from the Induna Primate and Parrot Park in South Africa under an animal exchange programme.

The Union Environment Ministry on June 1, 2020, issued an advisory to streamline and formalise the process of importing live exotic animals.

Before the issuance of advisory, these imports were happening though the Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), but they were beyond the purview of the forest departments. After the issuance of advisory, they’ll be kept in the loop.

Under the present law, the applicant must also have the CITES import permit for the species, a Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) import licence number, and a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the respective chief wildlife warden for the import of an animal or bird before applying for the breeding licence.

The 3,500-acre Vantara zoo in Gujarat has also imported animals. On 15 September 2025, a two-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, comprising Justices Pankaj Mithal and PB Varale, accepted the findings of an Special Investigation Team (SIT) and closed the complaints against Vantara.