Expert panel set up to formulate SOP to govern entry of zoo staff into animal enclosures, Central Zoo Authority tells Karnataka High Court
The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) on Wednesday informed the High Court of Karnataka that an expert committee has been constituted to evolve a Standard Operating
The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) on Wednesday informed the High Court of Karnataka that an expert committee has been constituted to evolve a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to govern the entry of staff, veterinarians, and others to animal enclosures in zoological parks across the country. A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice K.S. Hemalekha was hearing a PIL petition filed by Mangaluru-based Bhuvan M., a wildlife conservationist and herpetologist who is pursuing MSc in Applied Wildlife Conservation in the U.K. Expert panel The CZA counsel also produced before the Bench a copy of a notification issued in May about the constitution of the panel, and the terms and reference given to the committee.
The Bench disposed of the petition after taking note that the CZA was in the process of formulating the SOP. The petitioner had sought direction to the CZA to consider his representation and take steps to formulate SOP after a reply to an RTI query from the CZA disclosed that no SOP had been issued for staff entering animal enclosures. The petitioner had claimed that this regulatory gap had directly contributed to a series of avoidable tragedies in zoological parks.
17 incidents The petition had listed 17 incidents in zoological parks across the country in the last decade, including seven animal attacks in Karnataka. The petitioner had referred to the March 2026 incident in which a trainee
veterinarian was killed by a pregnant hippopotamus at the Tyavarekoppa Tiger and Lion Safari in Shivamogga and the February 2026 incident of a contract employee at Bannerghatta Biological Park mauled by a leopard through an iron mesh.
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