Conserving Big Cats in Captivity: Management practices used by National Zoological Park, New Delhi, India

The National Zoological Park, New Delhi is one of the prominent zoos housing large numbers of big cats. Zoos with time have been evolved as a prime institution that helps in the conservation of many wild animals but in the captive environment, the conditions are different in comparison to the wild. In the present study, the big cats i.e., Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, and Common leopard housed at the National Zoological Park, New Delhi have been chosen. The captive environment provided to these animals’ enclosure attributes, enrichment, upkeep, healthcare, population trend, breeding management, etc. has been reviewed. The data has been collected for every enclosure and analyzed as per the guidelines, norms, and species requirements. Besides, the population trend of these species in the zoo has also been analyzed. The results so obtained indicate that various management efforts are still required for conserving the species in captivity. Further, the population trend also depicts a more death trend than a birth trend in the case of big cats species which may be due to various reasons. The study, therefore, highlights that a more intensive species-specific captive management plan for the conservation of big cats may be formulated so that the main motive of zoos i.e., conservation and welfare of animals in captivity is being achieved successfully.