Animals Go ‘Missing' in West Bengal Zoos, Official Numbers Don't Tally

The Wire

24-07-2025

Bengaluru: Captive wild animals in two zoos in West Bengal have gone 'missing', as per official records maintained by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), India's apex zoo body that comes under the Union environment ministry.
News articles reported last week that 321 animals disappeared from the Alipore Zoo in Kolkata overnight. The chief secretary of West Bengal, who is the chairman of the West Bengal Zoo Authority, told The Wire on July 24 that an investigation is currently underway.
Though not at the scale of the Alipore Zoo, this investigation by The Wire shows that the Harinalaya Eco Park in Kolkata also 'lost' four animals during the same time period. Many animal transfers are also being conducted between zoos.
The CZA's annual inventory report for 2023-24 shows that during that year, the Alipore zoo transferred 54 animals to other zoos. However, the numbers presented in the corresponding annual report for the year for Alipore Zoo do not match this number; they are far higher. In 2023-24, the zoo sent 51 animals from nine species to Greens Zoological, Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre (or Vantara) alone. Seven of these are listed under Schedule I of the Wild Life Protection Act (1972). The zoo also sent 33 animals to two other zoos in West Bengal: 84 transfers in total.
Ecologists have raised concerns about these discrepancies in data between official records as well as the regular transfer of captive wildlife between many zoos. Zoos need to make verified data on its captive animal inventories and transfers available in the public domain, they told The Wire. And most importantly, while zoos play a role in educating the public and raising awareness, protecting endangered species in their habitats is far more critical as is preventing them from being caught from the wild for public display in zoos, they pointed out.
'Missing' animals
Zoological parks or zoos are centres that house captive animals that are put on display to the public. As per Section 2 (39) of India's Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972, a zoo refers to 'an establishment, whether stationary or mobile, where captive animals are kept for exhibition to the public'. These include circuses and rescue centres, but not licensed dealers who keep captive animals.
Over time, zoos have played an important role in conservation. They increase public awareness about wildlife, pique curiosity about a range of aspects including animal behaviour, and highlight why wild animals and their habitats need to be protected in the first place. Zoos are also seen as an important 'ex-situ' conservation measure: many function as breeding centres for rare and threatened species.
There are 13 zoos in West Bengal. These include the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park in Darjeeling, the Bardhaman Zoological Park (Ramnabagan) Mini Zoo, the Gar Chumuk (Ulughata) Deer Park in Howrah, the Harinalaya at Eco Park in Kolkata, the Rasikbeel Mini Zoo in Cooch Behar, the Surulia Mini Zoo in Purulia and the Alipore Zoological Garden in Kolkata.
All come under the aegis of the West Bengal Zoo Authority, which comes under the Central Zoo Authority a statutory body under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change). The CZA lays down guidelines, rules and regulations that zoos have to follow. One mandate is that zoos have to submit annual information and data pertaining to the zoo such as annual reports and inventories, which it releases on its website.
As per the Annual Inventory of Animals in Indian Zoos 2024-25 released by the CZA, the Alipore zoo reported that it housed a total of 351 animals at the start of the year (i.e., April 1, 2024). This 'opening stock' should match the number of 'closing stock' from the year before (i.e., as on March 31, 2024)
But in the case of Alipore zoo that year, it didn't.
As per the annual inventory report for 2023-24, the closing stock (as on March 31, 2024) was 672. Essentially, 321 animals disappeared from the logs overnight, NewsClick reported.
'This cannot be put down even to a clerical error,' a researcher who studies illegal wildlife trade but did not want to be named told The Wire. 'Where have these animals gone?'
The researcher raised concerns of such evidently wrong numbers worrying conservationists about animals – including species not found in India – being smuggled into zoos, being accounted for as 'rescues', and then being transferred to private zoos and animal collections.
The chief secretary of West Bengal told The Wire on July 24 that an investigation is currently underway on Alipore Zoo losing 321 captive animals overnight.
'I have asked the head of forest force to submit a report on this matter,' chief secretary Manoj Panth said.
On analysing inventory reports across previous years for other zoos in the state, The Wire found that the numbers at the Harinalaya at Eco Park also show a mismatch, though not as stark as at the Alipore Zoo. Here, the closing stock was 235 for the year 2023-24, while the opening stock in 2024-25, a day later, was 231 – a loss of 4 animals. The Bardhaman Zoological Park also 'lost' two animals overnight between March 31, 2023 and April 1, 2023.
Meanwhile, there is vagueness in the criteria that define the inclusion of zoos in the annual inventory reports too. For instance, there is no mention of the North Bengal Wild Animals Park in the inventory report for 2024-25; no mention of the Rasikbeel Mini Zoo in the year 2023-24; and no details of the animal inventory data for Alipore Zoo for the year 2022-23.
Acquisitions, 'holding centres' and modus operandi
Another interesting aspect of the annual inventory reports is the number of acquisitions and disposals.
As per the 2024-25 annual inventory report, apart from the 351 animals Alipore zoo housed on April 1, 2024, the zoo witnessed 113 births and made a staggering 695 'acquisitions' (which refers to the animals that the zoo acquired) that year. That is the highest number of acquisitions made by zoos in India mentioned in the annual report that year — except for the People For Animals Rescue Center in Bengaluru, Karnataka, which acquired 4,654 animals during the year. However the latter is a rescue centre and its primary objective is to take in and rescue animals, unlike the Alipore zoo.
The 695 animals that the Alipore Zoo acquired included exotic species, many that the zoo did not house before: such as a single bald eagle (a large bird of prey found only in North America), a red kangaroo, an alpaca, ten yellow-naped Amazon parrots, 13 red lories and more.
Many of these acquisitions of exotic species come from confiscations or seizures made by authorities. In March 2024, the Alipore zoo received a Malayan tapir from the North Bengal Wild Animals Park that was 'seized for safe custody'. The annual report for 2023-24 for the Alipore zoo specifies that the zoo received one golden parakeet, two Moluccan cockatoos, one military macaw and one blue-and-gold-macaw in September 2023 from the Wildlife Wing of the Directorate of Forests, Government of West Bengal, from a seizure and for 'safe custody'. These were later returned to the Directorate as part of a court order, the annual report also added. None of these species are found in India.
In 2024-25, as per the CZA's annual inventory report of animals in zoos, the Gar Chumuk (Ulughata) Deer Park – which is classified as a mini zoo – received two species of macaws that are native to South America: four individuals of the green-winged macaw, and 11 individuals of the red-bellied macaw. The same year, all 15 of these birds were 'disposed', or transferred. The inventory report does not mention which facility or private collection these birds were transferred to, or why they were transferred out.
Such patterns of zoos acting as 'holding centers' where confiscated animals arrive and are then transferred to another facility is very common now, the researcher, who studies illegal wildlife trade but did not want to be named, told The Wire. Sometimes, the animals are transferred to private zoos and animal collections.
'This is not illegal, as per law,' the researcher said. 'Any seizures of live wild animals made on land cannot be sent back to the port of origin so they go to zoos. Is this the modus operandi to legalize illegal wildlife trade? We do not know,' the researcher commented.
An important question that needs to be asked in this regard is about the origins of such seizures, the researcher commented.
'How did enforcement authorities become so efficient? How did they know about these animals to confiscate and capture them alive,' the researcher asked.
Buying captive-bred exotic wildlife like blue-and-gold macaws – a large parrot that is native to the Amazon in South America – is legal but there are numerous ethical issues even then, the researcher pointed out. One is that many animals, though labelled captive-bred, are in fact captured from the wild and plucked out of their homes to meet the huge demands fuelled by the pet trade.
'People buying them are completely oblivious to the trail of dead animals each imported dead animal leaves in its wake,' the researcher said.
Transfers to Vantara and others
In an earlier instance, in April 2023, the Alipore zoo transferred 51 animals to Greens Zoological, Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre or Vantara in Jamnagar, Gujarat, per its annual report for 2023-24 published on the website of the CZA.
Vantara has previously come under the scanner with some news reports alleging that the demand created by the rescue centre for captive wild animals is resulting in individuals being illegally captured from the wild. Vantara, however, had told The Wire that these allegations are 'entirely baseless' and 'misleading'.
The animals transferred from Alipore zoo to Vantara in April 2023 included one jungle cat, four fishing cats, two marsh crocodiles, one brow-antlered deer, two Indian muntjac (or barking deer), three water monitor lizards, nine Indian rock pythons, nine painted storks and 20 Indian star tortoises. Of these, all species except the Indian muntjac and painted stork come under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972 – that is, they are afforded the highest protection under Indian law, on par with the tiger.
What is the logic behind transferring species like the fishing cat to a private entity like Vantara instead of back to the wild, asked Tiasa Adhya, an ecologist who studies the rare and elusive wild cat in West Bengal and other states.
'If other zoos have a genetic line [of fishing cats] which promises more [genetic] diversity upon breeding of introduced individuals, or if the genetics of fishing cats have been studied in the wild and genetically poor populations have been identified, then such transfers [to private entities like Vantara] make sense from a managerial perspective which aims to bridge ex-situ and in-situ conservation,' Adhya, co-founder of The Fishing Cat Project, said.
But unless Vantara has such knowledge of fishing cat genetics already available, it would be 'wrong' from a species perspective to send fishing cats there because it is a new private entity, Adhya remarked.
In 2023-24, the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park transferred several animals to Vantara: a snow leopard, a red panda, six golden pheasants, six silver pheasants and six Lady Amhersts's pheasants.
Meanwhile, the data points to several other transfers between zoos.
In 2023-24, as per its annual report, Alipore Zoo transferred 27 animals to the North Bengal Wild Animals Park (two Indian crested porcupines, eight blue-and-gold macaws, five barking deer, two Indian rock pythons, two Burmese pythons, two reticulated pythons and four water monitor lizards) in two separate installments (in December 2023 and March 2024). It also transferred six animals (two Indian crested porcupines and four blue-and-gold macaws) to Junglemahal Zoological Park in Jhargram, West Bengal.
In 2023-24, the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park made 135 transfers, while the Gar Chumuk (Ulughata) Deer Park made 272 transfers.
Name of Zoo Disposals (Transfers to other zoos)
2022-23 2023-24 2024-25
Alipore Zoo - 54 23
Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park 51 135 65
Bardhaman Zoological Park 6 93 0
Gar Chumuk (Ulughata) Deer Park 15 272 37
Harinalaya At Eco Park 8 13 6
Rasikbeel Mini Zoo 20 - 0
Surulia Mini Zoo 0 0 0
North Bengal Wild Animals Park 1 35 -
Table: 'Disposals' or transfers to other zoos for three years, from CZA's annual inventory reports. Blank spaces indicate years for which data is not available for that year.
According to the researcher who studies illegal wildlife trade, a lot of transfers of wild animals are occurring between zoos. Why are these transfers being made, the researcher asked.
'Zoos need to provide data on the rationale behind such transfers and make them available in the public domain,' the researcher said.
The state zoo authority does not have any say in such transfers as they are internal decisions taken between zoos, chief secretary Panth told The Wire.
Numbers that don't tally
Meanwhile, the inventory report for the Alipore zoo for the year 2023-24 – also published by the same statutory body, the CZA – says that the Alipore zoo 'disposed' of a total of 54 animals that year. However, transfers to Vantara, the North Bengal Wild Animals Park and Junglemahal Zoological Park alone amount to a total of 84 'disposals', per another CZA document – its annual report for the same year.
The inventory report for the year also does not mention the 'disposal' of any marsh crocodiles, Indian rock pythons, Burmese pythons, reticulated pythons or water monitor lizards from the Alipore zoo at all – whereas its annual report for the year mentions the transfer of two marsh crocodiles, nine Indian rock pythons and three water monitor lizards to Vantara; two Indian rock pythons, two Burmese pythons, two reticulated pythons and four water monitor lizards to the North Bengal Wild Animals Park as mentioned above. Ironically, the inventory report claims that Alipore zoo only had eight Indian rock pythons at the opening of the year, and the same number at the close of the year, with no acquisitions or disposals in between.
Similarly, the inventory report only specifies the 'disposal' of eight blue-and-gold macaws (while the annual report claims that a total of 12 such birds were transferred from Alipore zoo to the North Bengal Wild Animals Park and Junglemahal Zoological Park).
In the case of the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park too, the inventory and zoo annual reports for the same year give completely different figures for the same categories. The inventory report lists 464 animals as the opening stock for the year 2023-24, whereas the annual report quotes 210; 40 acquisitions in the inventory versus 21 in the annual report; 135 disposals in the inventory versus 21 in the annual report; and a closing stock of 426 in the inventory versus 220 in the annual report for the year.
Clearly, the numbers do not tally.
This discrepancy in numbers also raises several questions, including the reliability of the CZA data. How many animals were really transferred to other zoological parks including Vantara and the North Bengal Wild Animals Park and other zoos? On what basis were these transfers made? If animals are going missing in hundreds from logs overnight, why should the call to transfer animals between zoos remain an internal decision and not one governed by the government?
Data is key, ecologists say.
Correct, verifiable data on animal transfers and why certain transfers were made should ideally be placed in the public domain, the wildlife trade researcher told The Wire. Zoos must also ensure that they conduct post-mortems for all animals that die on the premises and make available that data as well for the public, the researcher added.
If animals breed successfully in zoos, and space and resources become a constraint, some can be reintroduced back into the wild – which is ultimately what captive breeding programmes aim to do. According to a study by Adhya and other scientists, captive-bred fishing cats can be re-introduced in the wild this way. The study, published in 2024, identified 21 possible reintroduction zones for captive-bred fishing cats in West Bengal, including spots in the Sundarbans, a mangrove ecosystem in the state. Thus, captive-bred fishing cats – once acclimatised in 'soft release centers' within designated habitats marked for their release – can be repatriated to the wild instead of being transferred to other zoos, Adhya remarked.
But most importantly, priority should be given to protect the remaining wild habitats of species and authorities should only consider captive breeding programs as a supplementary tool, Adhya commented.
In the case of fishing cats for instance, without adequate protection of wetlands which are the most critically threatened ecosystems on the planet, 'captive breeding programs are a farce on the face of the Earth,' she added.
With inputs from Aparna Bhattacharya.