In March 1956, Hagenbeck presented a preliminary plan, which included the recommendation to use moated enclosures for the new zoo.

The plan was modified as needed to account for local conditions, and approved by the Indian government in December 1956.

[2] By the end of 1959, the Northern part of the zoo was complete, and animals which had been arriving for some time and which had been housed in temporary pens were moved into their permanent homes.

In 1982 it was officially renamed to National Zoological Park, with hopes that it could become a model for other zoos in the country.

[12] The zoo is part of conservation breeding programmes of the Central Zoo Authority for the royal Bengal tiger, Indian rhinoceros, swamp deer, Asiatic lion, brow antlered deer, and red junglefowl.