Former Trinamool MP Jawhar Sircar demands 'answers' for animals missing from Alipore Zoo
'There is no doubt that the number of animals and birds at Alipore Zoo have declined remarkably. In 1996, the Alipore Zoo housed roughly 1,872 animals and birds. As of the opening stock data of 2024, there are only 351 creatures. This drastic decrease has no logic,' Mr. Sircar said at a public meeting called by the Kolkata-based NGO, Save Wild Animal and Zoo and Our Nature (SWAZON).
He added that clerical or typographic error in data entry can account for roughly 1% irregularity.
'However, in this case, the discrepancy in inventory data is too large. Where did the animals go? If there are deaths, they need to submit autopsy reports,' Mr. Sircar said.
According to the Annual Inventory of Animals in Indian Zoos reports of 2023-24, the total closing stock of all creatures at Alipore Zoo as of March 31, 2023, was 672. However, the opening stock as of the following day, April 1, 2024, was 351 — marking an apparent one day decrease of over 300 creatures.
The closing stock as of March 31, 2025, according to the report, is 1084.
Mr. Sircar added that the 2024-25 data have no records for big animals like lions, tigers, elephants, and giraffes, and demanded that the State government needs to 'provide answers to explain the fundamental problem behind this discrepancy for public interest.'
'There is either gross negligence or a large conspiracy at play here. The government does not own land; they are the protectors of a certain land. It is their duty to protect such properties,' Mr. Sircar said.
It is worth noting that Mr. Sircar in September last year had resigned from his position of MP in the Upper House over the rape and murder of a doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital and allegations of corruption at the hospital.
Alleged auction of Zoo land
Meanwhile, former Director General of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and member of SWAZON Dipankar Sinha claimed on Wednesday that the West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO) issued a tender for the e-auction of a part of the Alipore Zoo land.
On May 23, HIDCO floated a notice for e-auction inviting offers for the 'for allotment of 166.50 Katha (11137.50 SQ.M) land in premises no. 34A, Belvedere Road, Alipore under ward no 74 of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) on freehold basis for Commercial use which shall inter alia includes an aquarium.'
He alleged that 34A Belvedere Road belongs to the Alipore Zoo and houses the zoo's veterinary hospital and animal rescue centre.
'As we know the Alipore Zoo is located on two sides of the Alipore Road. On one side we have the aquarium, the veterinary hospital and rescue centre, and an auditorium. The land on which the veterinary hospital is located has been put up on auction. But KMC does not own that land, it is not the government's to sell,' Mr Sinha told The Hindu.
He added that the veterinary hospital is critical for the welfare of the animals and criticised the proposal for its purported e-auction.
Mr. Sinha further said that the alleged 'disappearance' of hundreds of creatures from the zoo coupled with the auction of a part of the zoo land signals a 'grave and dark future' for the city's ecosphere and raises concerns over whether the space is being deteriorated to a lower-tier zoological garden.
'One side of the zoo, of which the address is 2, Alipore Road, is a heritage property. The second part of the zoo, which is located on the opposite side of the same road, strangely has a different address — 34A Belvedere Road. It makes one wonder if there is a concerted effort to eventually sell off the latter entirely, on account of it not being on the same address as the heritage property,' SWAZON member Swarnali Chattopadhyay said.
She also highlighted that according to the report on the Annual Inventory of Animals in Zoos, the inventory of animals and birds in Alipore Zoo has shown a gross and sudden decline in earlier years as well.
'If it is indeed a clerical error as zoo authorities claim, then why has the data not been corrected? And have the so-called missing animals been retrieved in consequent inventory reports? Questions remain on how such gross 'typographical errors' are being made year after year, and if there are larger forces at play,' Ms. Chattopadhyay said.
Notably, SWAZON filed a Public Interest Litigation at the Calcutta High Court on July 1 alleging that 'attempted alienation of [zoo land] without obtaining prior consent from the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), constitutes a direct violation of Section 38-H of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, as well as Rules 10, 10.3(8), and 10.4(2) of the Recognition of Zoo Rules, 2009.'
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