Master Planning of Zoos - Central Zoo Authority

Photo: Brij Kishor Gupta
Speech
by Dr. B.R. Sharma
Member Secretary, Central Zoo Authority
A very good morning to you.
I welcome all of you to this training programme,
being organised by the Central Zoo Authority and
the Wildlife Institute of India.
Historically, zoos began as menageries a place
where animals were exhibited as objects of
curiosity and for their entertainment value. Zoos
were neither noticeably concerned about the
natural requirements of animals nor particularly
interested in their management on scientific lines.
This has also influenced public perception of zoos,
which ranges from one extreme to the other. At
one end of the spectrum, some view them as
immoral, unnecessary and proclaim 'close the zoos'
other view them as drain on wild life. In between
the extremes, there are several other views for and
against the zoos. Overall it is observed that being
public institutions, zoos have come under hard
scrutiny and criticism in recent times.
Such varied opinions remind one of the famous
parable, ‘The five blind men and the elephant’.
Depending on whether each one felt its ears, its
trunk, its feet, its tusks or its abdomen, they said
the animal was flat, tubular, like a pillar, spear or
barrel. No one perceived it whole as an elephant.
The objective of operating a zoo has to be
perceived as one entity as enshrined in the National
Zoo Policy. Like nature, zoos are also dynamic
and must therefore continually improve
themselves or risk decline.
It was in this background and the fact that Indian
zoos should come up to the expectations of the
society, the need for having a special training
programme on master planning for the in-charge
of the zoos was planned and on the need for having
a master plan in place, as a beacon for the future
development of the their zoo. Mr. P.R.Sinha,
Director, Wildlife Institute of India readily
subscribed to this proposal and gave his consent
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