The National Zoological Park (originally Delhi Zoo) is a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

in New Delhi, India. A 16th-century citadel, a sprawling green island and a motley collection of animals and birds, all in the middle of a burgeoning urban Delhi. The zoo can be seen on foot or using a battery-operated vehicle which can be rented at the zoo. Visitors are not permitted to bring any food other than drinking water, but there is a canteen in the zoo. The zoo is closed on every Friday and national holidays.

History

Mughal-era Kos Minar in the Delhi National Zoo

The Delhi zoo came decades later after

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

was built. although the idea to have a zoo at the national capital was mooted in 1951, the park was inaugurated in November 1959. In 1952 the Indian Board for Wildlife created a committee to look into creating a zoo for Delhi. The government of India was to develop the zoo and then turn it over to Delhi as a working enterprise. In 1953 the committee approved the location of the zoo, and in October 1955 it assigned N. D. Bachkheti of the Indian Forest Service to oversee the creation of the zoo. Initially Major Aubrey Weinman of the Ceylon Zoological Garden (now the

National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka National Zoological Gardens of Sri Lanka (also called Dehiwala Zoo or Colombo Zoo) is a zoo, zoological garden in Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Dehiwala, Sri Lanka, founded in 1936. It is home to various birds, mammals, reptiles, fish and amphibians. Th ...

) was asked to help draw the plans for the zoo, but because he was not available for the long term, Carl Hagenbeck of the Zoological Garden of Hamburg was hired. In March 1956, Hagenbeck presented a preliminary plan, which included the recommendation to use moated enclosures for the new zoo. The plan was modified as needed to account for local conditions, and approved by the Indian government in December 1956. By the end of 1959, the Northern part of the zoo was complete, and animals which had been arriving for some time and which had been housed in temporary pens were moved into their permanent homes. The park was opened on 1 November 1959 as the Delhi Zoo. In 1982 it was officially renamed to National Zoological Park, with hopes that it could become a model for other zoos in the country.

Maqsood incident

On 23 September 2014, a man named Maqsood, fell in white tiger's moat accidentally. The children around started throwing stones at the tiger. The man was then carried away and mauled by the enraged tiger after some minutes. The man later succumbed to his injuries. The incident, which took place between 12.30 pm and 1 pm, created a sensation and word soon spread through the metropolis, with pictures and video of the tiger - one of the zoo's star attractions - dragging the man going viral.

Exhibits

The zoo is home to about 1350 animals representing almost 130 species of animals and birds from around the world.

Mammals

Birds

Reptiles

White peacock at National zoological park delhi

Conservation breeding

The zoo is part of conservation breeding programmes of the

Central Zoo Authority The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) is the body of the government of India responsible for oversight of zoos. It is an affiliate member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The CZA was formed to bring Indian zoos up to internation ...

for the royal Bengal tiger, Indian rhinoceros, swamp deer, Asiatic lion, brow antlered deer, and red junglefowl. The breeding program for the brow-antlered deer has been successful, starting with a pair of these deer in 1962, that individuals from the herd have been distributed to zoos in Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Junagarh, and Mysore, and have acclimated well to all of these locations.

Gallery

File:National Zoological Park Delhi 091.jpg, Blackbuck File:NZP Delhi1.jpg, Leopard File:Royal Bengal Tiger at New Delhi.jpg, Royal Bengal tiger Image:Indian Rhinoceros in National Zoological Park Delhi.jpg, Indian rhinoceros File:Gaur in New Delhi Zoo.jpg, Gaur File:Hippo in new delhi zoo.jpg, Hippopotamus File:Water-birds in National Zoological Park, Delhi.jpg, Waterbirds around Lake File:Black Bear in National Zoological Park, Delhi.jpg, Asian black bear File:CSC 0385.jpg, Jaguar File:National Zoological Park Birds.jpg, Birds

References

External links

*
Official website of: "Central Zoo Authority of India" (CZA), Government of India
{{authority control Parks in Delhi Zoos in India Tourist attractions in Delhi 1959 establishments in Delhi Zoos established in 1959