New Delhi: Delhi Zoo is ready to welcome visitors from November 8, after more than two months of shutdown, officials announced on Friday.
The National Zoological Park has been closed since August 30, following the detection of avian influenza in its waterbird aviary and death of several birds, as a precautionary measure.
“After receiving approval from the competent authority, the National Zoological Park will reopen for visitors from November 8,” the zoo said in a statement, adding that strict biosafety and preventive measures will continue to be followed.
Authorities carried out rigorous cleaning, surveillance, and multiple rounds of testing under the “Action Plan for Preparedness, Control and Containment of Avian Influenza (Revised 2021)” issued by the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, it said.
The samples collected after the initial outbreak were found negative in tests conducted at the National Institute of High Security Animal Diseases, Bhopal, paving the way for reopening. On September 1, the zoo reported its last positive case of H5N1 avian influenza, it said.
Since then, random sampling has been carried out from the aviary and various enclosures, all of which have tested negative so far. The zoo reported at least 12 bird deaths between August 28 and 31, including of painted storks and black-headed ibis. Four of these samples had tested positive for bird flu, prompting the closure.
This was the third closure of the Delhi zoo due to avian influenza in recent years, after shutdowns in 2016 and 2021.
Established in 1959, the zoo houses 96 species of animals, birds, and reptiles spread
across 176 acres in the heart of the Capital.