Delhi Zoo halts animal exchange with Assam amid sweltering heat

Amidst the sweltering heat in the national capital, Delhi's National Zoological Park (NZP) has temporarily suspended its long-standing animal exchange programme with Assam, officials said on Thursday.

Zoo Director Sanjeet Kumar said the rising temperatures and unfavourable atmospheric conditions are not suitable for transporting animals. "Due to the sudden increase in temperature, we have put the animal exchange programme on hold until favourable weather conditions prevail," Kumar said.

"The National Zoo currently has two female rhinoceroses and, as part of the exchange programme, one of them was to be exchanged for a male rhinoceros from Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden," he said, adding that tigers and blackbucks were also a part of the programme.

Kumar said they have halted the exchange for some time due to the weather conditions here. "We plan to bring them (animals) to the capital in June but only after ensuring all safety assessments are completed," he said.

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According to IMD data, April 2024 was comparatively warmer than last year, with an average maximum temperature of 35.3 degrees Celsius. In April 2024, there was only one day when the temperature touched 40 degrees Celsius, whereas in 2023, there were four such days and in 2022, there were 17 days when the capital experienced temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius or above.

The National Zoological Park, popularly known as the Delhi Zoo, had approached the Assam zoo for a male rhinoceros because they didn't have one for the past nine years, an NZP official said.

In 2013, NZP brought a 34-year-old male rhinoceros named Shiva from Mumbai's Veermata Jijabai Bhosale Botanical Udyan and Zoo. Unfortunately, he died on June 18, 2014, due to cancer. After his passing, there are now two female rhinoceroses at the NZP, the official said.

Under the exchange programme, the Assam zoo wanted a female rhinoceros and a Bengal tigress. "Delhi's zoo has two female rhinoceros -- Maheshwari and her daughter Anjuna," the official said. The National Zoological Park, whose establishment was initiated in 1952, is situated in a 176-acre area under the central government's jurisdiction.