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Any collection of wild animals in captivity is termed a zoo. Every zoo is required to be registered and authorised by the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZA). The Central Zoo Authority has established guidelines for the care and treatment of animals. Zoos that violate these norms may have their animals removed and may be closed down.

• No private zoos are permitted.

• No zoo shall allow any animal to be subject to cruelties as defined under the PCA 1960.

• No animals may be used for performing purposes.

• No zoo shall use any animal except elephants in the plains and yaks in the hills for riding or draught purposes, although, of course, elephants and yaks also suffer.

• No zoo shall keep any animal tethered unless it is essential for his or her own well-being, as in the case of injury.

• No zoo may exhibit any animal who is seriously sick, injured or infirm.

• Every zoo must be closed one day a week.

• Every zoo must have a boundary wall at least 2 metres high.

• The built-up area of a zoo must not constitute more than 25 percent of its total area.

• The staff’s residential quarters must be separated from the main campus by a 2-metre-high boundary wall.

• Every zoo shall have a full-time officer in charge.

• Every zoo shall have at least one full-time veterinarian. Large zoos must have two.

• All enclosures shall ensure the safety of the animals and meet their full biological needs.

• Zoo operators shall try to simulate the animals' natural habitat.

• All enclosures shall have arrangements for proper drainage and collection of excreta.

• No school may have a zoo or keep any wild animals.

• No mini or travelling zoos are permitted.

• No zoo shall acquire or transfer any wild animal protected under Schedule I or II of the WPA without prior permission of the CZA.

• Endangered mammal species will have feeding and retiring cubicles with proper ventilation and light.

• The designing of any new enclosure for endangered species shall be done in consultation with CZA.

• Zoos may not sell any animal to circuses or carry out any trade in wildlife.

• Zoos shall keep an inventory of births, deaths, acquisitions and disposals and shall report the number of animals in its care every year, by 30th April.

• The Central Zoo Authority has laid down rules for the care and treatment of zoo animals with regard to housing, feed, veterinary care and exchange or transfer.

• Section 38(j) of the Wildlife Protection Act makes it illegal to tease or injure zoo animals or to cause a disturbance in the zoo. Offenders can be punished with a fine of up to Rs 2000 and/or a jail term of six months.

What to Check for in a Zoo
• Animals who naturally live in large herds should not be housed alone. Conversely, naturally solitary animals should not be kept in groups. Aggressive or incompatible animals should not be housed together.

Signs of stress:

• Pacing from side to side

• Circling

• Licking the bars

• Head-rolling

• Scratching, self-mutilation

• Rocking back and forth

• Eating faeces

• Enclosures that are:

• small.

• overcrowded.

• barren, with no vegetation.

• dirty.

• without any access to shade.

• without any privacy.

• with stagnant water.

• littered with plastic packets.

• with only hard or concrete surfaces

• without any protection from the elements.

What You Can Do to Help Animals in Zoos

• Encourage people not to visit zoos. When the public stops rewarding confinement, zoos will cease to exist.

• Contact the zoo director. Point out the problem and suggest a solution after consulting with your local animal group.

• Encourage zoos to adopt a no-new-animals policy. This means that no new animals can be taken in and that no animals can be bred. Most zoos are in dire need of funds and are losing money rather than making profits. A no-new-animals policy will help close down the zoo and will also help the animals who already live there, as the zoo will, as a result, be able to pay closer attention to and better provide for each animal.

• Animals may not be kept constantly tethered. If you see elephants with leg chains, ask that the animals be moved to an enclosure where they can move freely.

• Follow up to see if there has been any improvement. If not, take a camera and record the violations.

• Send a formal complaint to the Central Zoo Authority: Shri PR Sinha, Member Secy, CZA, Bikaner House, Shah Jahan Road, New Delhi. List specific violations, and support your complaint with photographs, if possible.

• Form a squad of volunteers who will come in regularly to check on the animals.

• Visitors may not tease or disturb the animals. If you see people provoking the animals, inform them of the law. This is a punishable offence under Section 38-J of the WPA that carries a penalty of imprisonment for six months, a fine of Rs 2,000 or both. Second-time offenders can be punished with a jail term of up to one year and a fine of up to Rs 5,000. If the visitors persist in their behavior, file a complaint with the zoo director or the closest police station.

• Be particularly vigilant about people tossing plastic food packaging inside animal enclosures. Animals can swallow this plastic and die as a result.

• Check to see that the zoo has a full-time veterinarian, as required under the law. If not, meet with the zoo director. Unless appropriate steps are taken, report the situation to the Central Zoo Authority.

• Alert the media to the poor conditions in the zoo. After the tragedy in Nandankanan, where 13 tigers died, the public is very concerned about the problem, and media coverage is the most effective way to force the authorities to take remedial action.