Forest team at Delhi zoo to assess health of African elephant

A team of experts from the Delhi forest and wildlife department on Monday visited the National Zoological Park, informally known as the Delhi zoo, to assess the health of the lone African elephant there.

The development comes after zoo officials said that the elephant has come into “musth” —a state of aggression where increased reproductive hormones are released — and sought assistance to tranquillise it. A similar spell on musth in September 2023 had led to the elephant, named Shankar by the zoo, breaking a boundary wall of its enclosure, injuring itself and hurting a zookeeper in the process. The animal has since largely been kept chained.

On Monday, zoo director Sanjeet Kumar said they sought the assistance of the forest department so that the animal does not hurt itself, zoo staff, or visitors in another bout of aggression.

“A veterinary team from the Delhi zoo and the forest department monitored and assessed Shankar’s health on Monday. It is under observation, and based on necessary requirements and its condition, the veterinary team will take a call on whether it needs to be tranquilised,” said Kumar, adding that the zoo has also begun the process to strengthen the boundary wall of the animal’s enclosure.

Shankar and a female African elephant, named Bombai, were brought to the Capital in 1998 as diplomatic gifts from Zimbabwe. However, Bombai died in 2005, and Shankar has been the lone African elephant in the zoo in the nearly two decades since.

In 2022, a teenager filed a petition in the Delhi high court, pleading that Shankar be released and rehabilitated elsewhere, citing poor living conditions at the zoo. The plea was later dismissed, with the high court asking the Central Zoo Authority to look into the possibility of bringing a female partner for Shankar.

A zoo official, on condition of anonymity, said that the continued chaining up of the animal has only added to its aggression. “On Monday, the chains were shifted from one leg to another. However, the animal is rarely let out into its enclosure,” the official said.

The chaining of Shankar for long periods and its condition at the zoo came under the scanner of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). In a letter sent to the Delhi Zoo, dated June 20, WAZA sought details of how long the animal is kept chained and if it has been kept chained since September 2023.

Kumar did not comment on the letter, or whether the zoo responded to WAZA.