Before the CZA was formed, many zoos were poorly managed, with unsuitable animal enclosures and little or no breeding records of animals, which caused inbreeding and hybridization (genetic pollution, as in one case where an Asiatic lion were cross-bred with an African lion).

The Central Zoo Authority has been constituted under the section 38A of Wild Life (Protection) Act 1972.

It, therefore, provides technical and financial assistance to such zoos which have the potential to attain the desired standard in animal management.

The Authority also coordinates and implements programmes on capacity building of zoo personnel, planned breeding programmes and ex situ research including biotechnological intervention for conservation of species for complementing in-situ conservation efforts in the country.

Some of the major initiatives undertaken by the Authority since its inception include establishment of a laboratory for conservation of endangered species at Hyderabad for carrying out research in biotechnology, planned breeding of red panda and its restocking into the wild, upgrading diagnostic facilities for disease diagnosis at selected veterinary institutions and their networking with zoos on regional basis for better health care of animals.