Two days later, the lion-tailed macaque had a baby and after that it was the turn of the swamping deer. At present, hundreds of pelican storks are laying eggs in their nests surrounding the water body; some have already started hatching.

Zoo director D N Singh is elated. Obviously. “Life and death is a matter of chance in the zoo,” he says. Philosophically. “It is a happy news for all of us here.”

Zoo officials are yet to determine the sex of the newborns, as the mothers are too protective at present. They would not let humans anywhere near the cubs — official badges or not. “We do not usually disturb a new mother because it spoils the normal bond between the mother and baby,” a zoo official explains.

“We have been here for 10 minutes and we have been able to spot just two monkeys,” says Guddu Singh, standing outside the macaque’s enclosure — it has five tailed ones. The swamp deer is more approachable, though, as the new mother takes a round of its enclosure with the calf close behind.

Visitors, however, will have to wait for a few more weeks to get a glimpse of the lion-tailed macaque baby, though most are still unaware of the little ones — the zoo authorities have not announced the births.

“We did not know there would be new ones,” says Pallavi, a student from Azadpur Village Girls School. In the zoo with classmates on a winter morning out, she finds it “strange” that the zoo does not inform visitors of what is happening inside.

But Dr A K Malhotra of the Zoological Garden, says that is merely an attempt to keep people from “hooting and disturbing the animals” for a glimpse of the newborn.

Zoo officials, meanwhile, say this year has been “lucky” so far despite seven Manipur deers dying few days ago. Food and living conditions of the animals, they say, have improved. “Good fodder and hygiene go a long way in improving breeding,” Malhotra says. “We have collaborated with Mother Dairy to ensure good food this year.”

The result is so many newborns, he says. The zoo gets fruit and vegetables from Mother Dairy, and fresh meat from local contractors.