24 August 1996

Forum : One bird’s prison

FOR most people, a visit to the zoo means going to see wild animals in their
cages. For others, though, especially in India, zoos provide open spaces where
they can find the sort of peace and solitude so lacking in crowded cities. Of
course, there are always those who would not be seen dead within the confines of
a zoo—India has its share of animal rights activists who decry zoos as
despicable animal prisons. What they don’t realise is that for some animals the
doors of the prison are always wide open, and for them the zoo is a

Over the past ten years, I have been a regular visitor to Delhi Zoo, but not
as a seeker of peace, nor as a viewer of its many caged exhibits. The zoo’s 85
hectares provide sanctuary to a large number of wild waterfowl, and it is these
that fascinate me. The zoo has three large ponds which are splendid wintering
quarters for a great number of migratory ducks. And several types of colonially
breeding waterfowl build their nests in the large mesquite trees that grow on
islands in the ponds.

Without doubt, the painted stork (Mycteria leucocephala) is the most
spectacular of all the feathered visitors to the zoo. They are large, handsome
birds with big, waxy-yellow bills, black and white plumage and a fluff of pink
on their tails. Since 1960, the Delhi Zoo has been an important breeding ground
for these storks. Throughout the summer, they inhabit the wetlands of the
countryside around Delhi. But come the August monsoon they start to flock to the
breeding habitat offered by the zoo. They rely on the zoo’s trees for secure
nesting, but to feed their chicks they must fly beyond the zoo to the nearby
wetlands of the river Yamuna to catch fish. Several other wild waterfowl, such
as egrets, herons and cormorants, also nest in the zoo ponds but at different
times of the year. Like the storks, they too must fly outside the zoo for

After the famous Keoladeo Ghana National Park at Bharatpur, some 200
kilometres away, the Delhi Zoo is perhaps the largest and most important
breeding ground for colonial waterfowl over the huge territory of northwestern
India. Many of the species, including heron, egret, stork, ibis and cormorant,
are now on the endangered list in India. Across the subcontinent their nesting
colonies are under threat from human disturbances such as tree-cutting and land
reclamation. Thus the heronries at Delhi and some other Indian zoos provide
ornithologists with ideal opportunities to study the birds at close hand, and in
the process to learn more about their ecology and conservation.


Around Delhi, painted storks live singly or in small flocks when they are not
breeding. At the start of the breeding season, in late August, the number of
storks at roosts in the zoo starts to rise. After September, though, their
numbers decline. They pick up again in January and peak at upwards of 550 birds
in February. Few storks remain at the zoo after May.

Sadly, the zoo authorities tend to ignore the wild herons, storks and egrets
that come to breed on their land. Whereas the captive animals and the associated
breeding efforts are seen as regular tasks for the zoo staff, taking care of the
wild birds is an entirely different matter. And in some zoos they even try to
discourage the nesting because of the muck that the birds create and the strong
fishy stench that pervades the nesting colonies.

Given the unique ornithological significance of many Indian zoos and the
important role they can play in researching and conserving wetland birds, it is
vital the zoo authorities change their view. There is much to be gained from
conserving wild waterfowl in zoos and building up population records. Such data
will not only be useful to ecologists. Birds are good indicator species, so the
success of their populations will reflect the status and wellbeing of wetlands
around the zoos and in the countryside.

I look forward, though, to the day when Indian conservationists and animal
rights activists begin to appreciate the visiting wildfowl aspect of zoo life.
And as amateur birdwatching grows in popularity, especially in India’s urban
areas, I hope that a growing number of volunteers will offer their services to
monitor the wild heronries in and around our zoos.