With licence revoked, Deer Park awaits fate

TRANSLOCATION OF 400 DEER STALLED

- Snehil Sinha

The park was originally designed to house just six deer. Over the years, the herd multiplied exponentially.

(SANJEEV VERMA/HT)

On a cold November morning, long before crowds arrive with cameras and coffee, dozens of spotted deer huddle quietly in the dew-heavy enclosure, waiting for the first rays of sunlight to warm their backs.

A Delhi Development Authority (DDA) staffer walks in, pushing a cart stacked with winter greens - fresh fodder with handfuls of amla to boost nutrition. The animals take cautious steps toward their breakfast, following a rhythm that has remained unchanged for decades.

Once celebrated as a quaint "mini zoo" in the heart of south Delhi, the AN Jha Deer Park now sits in limbo, stripped of that identity since June 2023. What followed the cancellation of its zoo licence is a bureaucratic hustle that has left the animals suspended between courtrooms, official clearances and growing concerns over their welfare.

Two years after the Central Zoo Authority (CZA) ordered relocation of the herd, the plan has stalled. Of the roughly 600 deer housed here, 261 have been moved; nearly 400 remain in the only home they have ever known - despite the absence of legal recognition, specialised management or monitoring that any zoo is required to have.