Kolkata: An alleged discrepancy in the animal inventory of Alipore Zoological Gardens has prompted a public interest litigation in the Calcutta High Court.
A Kolkata-based voluntary organisation has alleged that 321 animals have gone missing from the zoo’s records over one financial year and reportedly sought a court-monitored investigation. According to the petitioner, Alipore Zoo reported housing 672 animals in 2023-2024, but the figure dropped to 351 in 2024-2025.
The petition claims such discrepancies are not new and have been occurring for the last three decades.
The next hearing in the matter is likely to be held on July 24, court sources said.
It was reportedly learnt that a Central Zoo Authority (CZA) team is set to visit the Alipore Zoo for an inspection. The central team will also meet officials of the West Bengal
zoo authorities.
The West Bengal Forest department has, meanwhile, initiated an inquiry into the reported discrepancy. State chief wildlife warden S. Sundriyal told the media that the forest department, which oversees the zoo’s functioning, has asked for a report to be submitted within two weeks.
The petitioner organisation has also urged the court to order an audit of the zoo’s records for the past ten years, citing repeated inconsistencies in the number of animals reported.
While concerns have been raised about possible animal trafficking or a conspiracy to show fewer animals to facilitate a land sale, zoo authorities have attributed the mismatch of figures to a counting error.
Officials of the state forest department claimed that the data sent from the zoo to the CZA was accurate, and that the mistake lay in the way the central report represented the figures. They said a request to correct the data had already been made to the CZA.
The CZA’s findings were recently quoted in media reports, which prompted both the court case and the state-ordered inquiry.
The Alipore Zoo, established in 1876, is among the oldest zoological parks in India.