Delhi Zoo planning to make masks mandatory soon: Officials

Owing to the rise in Covid-19 cases worldwide and the detection of a new variant BF.7 in India, the National Zoological Park (also known as the Delhi Zoo) is planning to make masks mandatory inside the premises, officials said. At present, visitors at the gate are being asked to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, however, officials said tickets will soon be mentioning that masks are required in order to enter the zoo.

“Owing to a new variant being detected and the overall increase in Covid-19 cases across the world, we aim to follow all the latest guidelines being issued by the government. Since visitors come from all across the country and even from abroad to visit the zoo, we are planning to make it mandatory to wear masks inside the zoo premises. For this, instructions have already been issued to the ticket vendor and soon, it will be printed on the tickets too that visitors have to wear a mask in order to enter and roam inside,” said Akanksha Mahajan, director, Delhi Zoo.

She said while a date from which it will become mandatory is yet to be decided, strict enforcement will soon commence. Ever since the pandemic struck, physical sale of tickets has been halted at the zoo and only online tickets can be purchased, even now.

“Visitors are already being sensitized to wear masks and ensure social distancing. All zoo staff are also wearing masks now. Once the tickets carry these instructions that it is mandatory to wear masks for visitors, we will gradually enforce this and not allow people to enter without one,” she added.

The zoo is also planning to place a cap on the number of visitors allowed inside the zoo every day. A zoo official, on condition of anonymity, said while there was no such limit at present, only 10,000 visitors may be allowed each day after January 1. “We are still in the discussion stage and if required, a limit will be placed on the daily number of visitors allowed,” the official said.

During the festive period and on national holidays, the Delhi Zoo can average a footfall of up to 30,000 visitors.

There are over 90 different animal species at the Delhi Zoo, which recently welcomed the birth of three white tiger cubs in August. With this, the zoo has now got seven white tigers, while there are four Royal Bengal tigers.