Delhi Zoo Bird Walk Records 47 Species, Wildlife Week Next

The National Zoological Park (NZP), New Delhi, which works under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, held two citizen science walks on the same morning: the 15th edition of the Sunday Bird Walk and the 4th edition of the Butterfly and Dragonfly Walk. The latter was also the second walk held during Big Butterfly Month.

What the walkers recorded

The walks ran from 6:30 AM to 10:30 AM under two resource persons, bird expert Rohit Sharma and butterfly and dragonfly expert Ramver, with volunteers assisting. Fifteen participants took part and their observations added up to:

• 47 bird species, with sightings of more than 750 individual birds
• 8 butterfly species
• 10 dragonfly species and 5 damselfly species

The experts explained the ecology and behaviour of the species seen and their roles as pollinators, natural pest controllers and indicators of the health of an ecosystem. Dr Sanjeet Kumar, Director of the National Zoological Park, said such walks sharpen field identification skills and improve understanding of food webs while adding to biodiversity records.

How to join a walk

Each Sunday nature walk takes only 20 to 25 participants so that the learning stays close and useful. Registration in advance is compulsory and is taken first come, first served through a form that stays open from Monday to Friday each week. The link is put up on the zoo's official website and on the NZP Sathi mobile application.

Wildlife Week 2026

The zoo will observe Wildlife Week 2026 from 2 to 8 October 2026. Planned activities include a tree walk, a birds walk, a butterfly and dragonfly walk, a spider and insect walk, a reptile, amphibian and molluscs walk, a keeper's talk with enclosure enrichment, and competitions in clay modelling, poster making, debate, essay writing, bird nest making, bird feeder making, leaf craft, drawing, rangoli and quiz, along with a treasure hunt, an expert talk and online photography, poster and quiz activities.

Free entry during the week

School students from government and private schools across Delhi-NCR have been invited to join the offline and online events. No fee will be charged for any Wildlife Week walk, activity or competition. Participants, along with their school teachers, accompanying staff and parents, will get free entry to the zoo through the week, and children up to 12 years of age will also be admitted free on those dates. Details of the competitions are to be published on the zoo's website and the NZP Sathi app.