Central Zoo Authority: Member list replaced, tenure set

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has set the tenure of the Central Zoo Authority’s chairperson and members until 31 March 2027 or until further orders, whichever is earlier. Its notification S.O. 5720(E), dated and published in the Gazette of India on 21 October 2026, also substitutes the authority’s full membership list, with the Union environment minister designated as chairperson.

The amendment concerns the composition and tenure of the national body responsible for overseeing zoo standards. It replaces the membership entries and tenure paragraph in the ministry’s earlier notification S.O. 4057(E), dated 13 September 2023. It does not announce a decision on the recognition of any individual zoo.

The Central Government issued the amendment under Section 38A, read with Section 38B(1), of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. These are the provisions concerning the authority’s constitution and the tenure of its chairperson and members, as described in the Central Zoo Authority’s annual report for 2020-21.

The new tenure provision is conditional: 31 March 2027 is the specified end date, but an earlier government order can bring the term to an end. The notification does not provide an automatic continuation beyond that date.

Who is on the authority

The ministry’s substituted list contains a chairperson, ten members and a member-secretary. Most entries identify an office rather than naming the individual holding it.

Alongside the environment minister as chairperson, the notification designates four senior ministry officials as members: the Secretary to the Government of India; the Director General of Forests and Special Secretary; the Additional Director General of Forests (Wild Life) and Director, Wild Life Preservation; and the Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor.

The list also includes the Director of the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun, the Director of the Zoological Survey of India in Kolkata, and the Vice President of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Three members are named individually. The notification lists Dr. Subeer S. Majumdar, described as a former Director General of Gujarat Biotechnology University in Gandhinagar, and Amitabh Agnihotri, described as Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Director (Retired), State Forest Research Institute, Jabalpur.

It also names Dr. Ranjana Gupta, described as Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Chief Wildlife Warden (Retired), Assam. The Member Secretary of the Central Zoo Authority occupies the member-secretary position on the body.

The amendment replaces all the membership entries in the earlier notification. It does not identify which individuals or institutional positions are being retained and which are being replaced. The substituted list, rather than a description of appointments as new or renewed, is what the Gazette establishes.

The body behind zoo recognition and standards

The environment ministry’s account of the Central Zoo Authority says it was established in 1992 as a statutory body, meaning an institution created under law. A 1991 amendment to the Wild Life (Protection) Act added Chapter IVA, covering Sections 38A to 38J, to provide for the authority.

According to the ministry, its objectives include strengthening wildlife conservation, enforcing minimum standards for animal care and healthcare in Indian zoos, and controlling the growth of unplanned and poorly conceived zoos.

The authority’s 2020-21 annual report describes responsibilities extending beyond the approval of zoo facilities. They include evaluating zoos against prescribed standards, recognising or derecognising them, identifying endangered species for captive breeding, and coordinating the acquisition, exchange and loan of animals for breeding.

That report also lists training zoo personnel, coordinating research and educational programmes, and providing technical assistance for scientific zoo management among the authority’s functions. These responsibilities explain the institutional scope of the membership notification; the October amendment itself does not alter those functions.

The Recognition of Zoo Rules, 2009, in the compilation incorporating the 2013 amendment published by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department, sets out the recognition process. Recognition is the authority’s formal approval of a zoo against the applicable requirements.

Under that text, applications for recognition under Section 38H go to the Central Zoo Authority. Applications seeking prior approval to establish a new zoo must include a detailed project report. The rules also provide for the authority to seek further information before granting recognition and to assess whether facilities and standards are sufficient.

Conservation policy is separate from the tenure change

The National Zoo Policy places conservation, rather than entertainment alone, at the centre of zoo management. It identifies coordinated breeding outside natural habitats, visitor education and scientific study as ways for zoos to support national conservation efforts.

The policy also calls for long-term development plans and a sustained supply of financial and technical resources before a new zoo is established. Its animal-housing provisions address space for movement, shelter and opportunities for animals to display natural behaviour.

Those policy objectives provide the background to the authority’s work, but the 21 October notification contains no new animal-care standards, funding allocation or zoo-development programme. Its operative changes are confined to the membership list and the tenure paragraph.

The notification is signed by Dr. Vaibhav C. Mathur, Inspector General of Forests (Wildlife). It gives no reason for choosing 31 March 2027 as the tenure endpoint and specifies no arrangement for the authority’s composition after that date.