New Delhi: The Alipore Zoological Garden in Kolkata, one of India’s oldest zoos, is accused of mismanagement of wildlife, with over 300 animals “missing overnight” from records.
City-based NGO Swazon in a petition filed in the Calcutta High Court on 1 July alleged “gross administrative negligence” at the zoo, citing discrepancies in its annual inventory of animals over the past 30 years—mismatch that the zoo has put down to a “counting error”.
Referring to the ‘Annual Inventory of Animals in Zoos’ report, compiled every year by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), the petition, seen by ThePrint, says that 321 animals had gone “missing” from the Alipore zoo’s inventory between the last day of fiscal 2023-24 and the first day of fiscal 2024-25.
This discrepancy was noticed when comparing the closing stock, i.e. the number of animals on the last day of a financial year, and the opening stock, i.e., the number of animals on the first day of the next financial year, at the zoo.
“This is abject data fudging, and there have been so many anomalies over the years. Whether the animals are actually missing, or you’re not reporting them correctly, it is still cause for concern since you’re a public zoo and you should be accountable,” Swarnali Chatterjee, a member of the NGO, told ThePrint.
The closing stock for financial year 2023-24, counted on 31 March, 2024, reported a total of 672 animals at the zoo. However, the opening stock for 2024-25, counted on 1 April, 2024, reported a total of 351 animals. This was a discrepancy of 321 animals.
An independent analysis by ThePrint of CZA reports over the years found that the mismatch in numbers—between the closing stock of one year and opening stock of the next—at the Alipore zoo was not a one-time incident.
It dates all the way back to 1996, when the first-ever annual inventory was published by the CZA for fiscal 1995-1996. The closing stock on 31 March, 1996, was 1,805 animals at the Alipore zoo. The opening stock on 1 April, 1996, however, recorded a higher number of animals, at 1,872. A discrepancy of 5, 10, 15, or even 200-300 animals was visible in every recorded inventory of the Alipore zoo from 1995 to 2025, according to the analysis of data.
“Such large numbers of unaccounted animals are nothing short of alarming,” Shubhobroto Ghosh, Wildlife Research Manager, World Animal Protection India, said. “One cannot rule out sinister possibilities like illegal wildlife trade to explain the hundreds of animals missing over the years at the Alipore zoo.”
Speaking to ThePrint, Arun Mukherjee, director of Alipore zoo, said: “It is just a counting error—between our internal numbers and those reported in the CZA’s inventory, there’s been an error and we’re trying to fix it.”
Ghosh, however, said a counting error could explain one or two instances of mismatch, but not 30 years of discrepancies.
In fact, the zoo’s inventory is missing altogether from the CZA report for certain years, such as 2021-22 and 2022-23, despite it being mandatory for all zoos to share their inventory with the CZA every year.
According to the latest inventory numbers posted on 31 March, 2025, the Alipore zoo has 1,184 animals, including birds, mammals, and reptiles. But while the inventory on 31 March, 2024, mentioned Bengal tigers, Asiatic lions, elephants, jackals, rhinoceros, leopards, and other endangered animals, none of these are mentioned in the inventory for 2024-2025.
Videos and testimonies from visitors to the zoo from one month ago show that it continues to house Asiatic lions and Bengal tigers, but these are not recorded as part of the latest inventory.
“That is the problem—the fact that these animals exist in the zoo yet they’re not being recorded,” said Ghosh. “If large, charismatic animals like lions, elephants and giraffes are missing from the zoo’s records, it’s grounds for suspicion and alarm.”
The CZA, nodal body under the Union ministry of environment that oversees all 157 recognised zoos in the country, said it is looking into the matter. “We have asked for a report from the Chief Wildlife Warden of West Bengal in this matter,” V. Clement Ben, member secretary, told ThePrint.
The NGO’s petition is scheduled to be heard by a bench of the Calcutta High Court on 24 July. It requests that the court order the zoo authorities to submit annual inventory of the past 10 years and provide an explanation for the discrepancies.
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‘Problem at heart of zoo’
The Alipore Zoological Garden, also known as the Kolkata zoo, was founded in 1875 under the British empire, and is one of the oldest zoos in India. It has been home to a number of “celebrity animals” such as Adwaita, a tortoise that was a pet of British general Robert Clive and which lived in the zoo until its death in 2006. It was believed to be between 150 and 250 years old.
Citizens’ group Swazon (Save Wild Animals of Zoo and Our Nature) stated in its petition how integral the zoo is to Kolkata’s heritage and wildlife history.
It also alleged that the misrepresentation in zoo animal numbers was connected to another issue—the West Bengal government’s plan to auction off a section of land that houses zoo infrastructure.
An e-tender posted by West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation last month invites bids for auction of a piece of land on 34A, Belvedere Road, Alipore, for “commercial use”.
This piece of land measuring close to 3 acres currently houses some of the zoo’s ancillary infrastructure like the veterinary hospital, the rescue centre, the post-mortem facility, and a public aquarium. The e-tender states that the land belongs to the municipal corporation.
According to the petition, the change of land use from public to commercial is illegal without proper approval from the CZA. Since the land houses essential facilities of the Alipore zoo, the petition terms it an attempt to piecemeal the zoo and monetise it through commercial usage. It requests that the HC overturn the decision to sell any part of the zoo’s land.
“There’s a clear pattern we’ve noticed: first, they’re reducing the number of recorded animals. Now they’re reducing the area under the zoo. It is an attempt by the government to slowly strip the zoo of its status and take over its land,” said Chatterjee.
The zoo director refused to comment on the e-tender, saying the NGO’s petition was due to be heard in court.
According to Chatterjee, the Alipore zoo was initially categorised as a large zoo by the CZA because of its number of animals and annual footfall. To be classified as a large zoo, the CZA guidelines say the zoo needs to have more than 700 animals and a wide variety representing both local and exotic animals.
With dwindling animal numbers over the last 30 years, the Alipore zoo is now categorised as a medium-sized zoo. The petition terms this as intentional downsizing on behalf of the government.
“The animals are shrinking, but the footfall remains the same. The zoo continues to earn through ticket sales, so it cannot blame its shrinking size on a lack of funds. There has to be some kind of a problem at the heart of the zoo’s functioning,” said Chatterjee. “All these signs point to an attempt to slowly shut down the zoo and sell the land to real estate developers.”
For Ghosh, the Alipore zoo case signifies a deeper issue in the registration and recording of animals in India’s 157 recognised zoos. Since the mismatch of numbers at the Kolkata zoo went unnoticed by both the zoo authorities and CZA for years, Ghosh called for immediate remedial measures.
“It is of cardinal importance to institute immediate measures of transparency and clarity in animal records of not only Alipore zoo in West Bengal, but each and every zoo in India,” he said. “Wildlife trade is exploding in India through the roof, and we must make sure zoos do not add to this tragedy.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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