Delhi zoo to replenish shrinking animal collection; plans afoot to acquire 109 new species

After its collection declined from 99 wildlife species to 92 over the past three years, the Delhi zoo is set to acquire 109 new species and 2,943 animals under its proposed modernisation plan, with cheetahs, New World monkeys, mouse deer and butterflies among the species identified for acquisition.

With the fresh acquisitions, the National Zoological Park will sport a vibrant collection of 201 wildlife species.

Among these, mouse deer are being reintroduced to the Delhi zoo after almost 30 years, an official privy to the developments told PTI on Monday.

The proposed acquisition forms a key component of the zoo’s modernisation project, for which the Centre has earmarked Rs 3.78 crore.

The animals will be brought primarily through exchange programmes with other zoos, with a tentative mapping of partner zoos prepared to facilitate the process, the official said.

The acquisition plan covers mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and other wildlife that are either absent or under-represented at the National Zoological Park. Prominent species proposed for acquisition are cheetahs, New World monkeys, mouse deer and butterflies, aimed at enriching the zoo’s biodiversity, he said.

The proposed expansion comes against the backdrop of a shrinking animal collection at the zoo. The National Zoological Park, which housed 99 species three years ago, currently has 92 species and 1,255 animals, indicating a gradual decline in both species diversity and animal population.

Several iconic species that had once drawn visitors are no longer part of the zoo’s collection. The park lost its last chimpanzee in 2019. Considered India’s oldest chimpanzee, the animal died just months before turning 60, another zoo official said.

The Delhi zoo has also been without giraffes since 2014, and zebras since 2013. It currently has no African elephant, leaving notable gaps in its collection of charismatic ‘megafauna’ (large animals). The proposed acquisition seeks to address such gaps while broadening the range of species available for conservation, breeding and public awareness, the official shared.

The zoo has also witnessed a series of animal deaths over the past several months. Last month, a civet and a chinkara deer died, adding to concerns over repeated losses of animals at the facility.

Earlier this year, a male nilgai and a jackal died within days of each other. During the same period, a male Sangai deer — an endangered species protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 — also died at the zoo.

In December 2025, the zoo was at the centre of a controversy after a jackal escaped from its enclosure and was later declared to have died of suffocation following efforts to capture it. Days later, the zoo employees’ union alleged that the animal’s partially-burnt carcass had been found, and it had been disposed of without a medical examination.

In another incident earlier this year, a two-year-old white tigress named Durga suffered a fracture while being prepared for transfer to Patna zoo under an animal exchange programme. The injury occurred inside the ‘kraal’ — a holding enclosure where animals are kept before animals are shifted — delaying the transfer.

According to zoo, the proposed acquisition of 201 species and 2,943 animals will significantly strengthen the zoo’s collection and support its long-term conservation, breeding and educational objectives.

Under it’s conservation initiative, Delhi zoo is also using artificial incubation for breeding, through which it recently got its first rat snake in seven years.