Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan
Patna Zoo
25°35′47″N 85°05′57″E / 25.596513°N 85.099304°E / 25.596513; 85.099304
Date opened1973[1]
LocationPatna, Bihar, India
Land area152.95 acres (61.90 ha)
No. of animals800 [2]
No. of speciesTrees: 300 species [2]
Animals: 70 species
Fish: 35 species
Snakes: 5 species
Annual visitors45-55 lakh[3]
MembershipsCZA[4]
Websitewww.zoopatna.com

Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan (also known as Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park) or Patna Zoo is located off Bailey Road in Patna, Bihar, India.[5][6][7] The park was opened to the public as a zoo in 1973. The park is Patna's most frequented picnic spot, with more than 36,000 visitors on New Year's Day alone in 2022.[8]

History

The park was first established as a botanical garden in 1969. The then Governor of Bihar, Sri Nityanand Kanungo, provided almost 34 acres (14 ha) of land from the Governor House campus for the garden. In 1972, Public Works added 58.2 acres (23.6 ha) to this, and the Revenue Department transferred 60.75 acres (24.58 ha) to the Forest Department to help expand the park.[2]

Since 1973, this park has been a biological park, combining a botanical garden with a zoo. The land acquired from the Public Works Department and the Revenue Department was declared protected forest by the state government on 8 March 1983.[2]

A giraffe at Patna Zoo
A Resting Antelope at Patna Zoo
A Resting Antelope at Patna Zoo
A Sloth Bear at Patna Zoo.

Animals and exhibits

The zoo is currently home to over 800 animals of about 110 species, including tiger, leopard, clouded leopard, hippopotamus, crocodile, elephants, Himalayan black bear, jackal, black bucks, spotted deer, peafowl, hill myna, gharial, python, Indian rhinoceros, chimpanzee, giraffe, zebra, emu, and white peacock.[2]

Having started as a botanical garden, the park currently houses more than 300 species of trees, herbs and shrubs. Plant exhibits include a nursery for medicinal plants, an orchid house, a fern house, a glass house, and a rose garden.[2]

The park also includes an aquarium which is the largest revenue generator after the general admission fee. The aquarium has about 35 species of fish, and the snake house has 32 snakes belonging to 5 species.[2]

Aquarium at Patna Zoo

Conservation and births

The Patna Zoo makes considerable effort to conserve and propagate endangered species from around the world. Breeding captive wild animals is a difficult challenge that the zoo has met with some notable success.

Success

  • The great one-horned rhinoceros has been bred successfully several times in the past. In 2008, Patna Zoo earned acclaim for its breeding techniques.[9]
  • A hippopotamus has given birth for the first time at the zoo to a male hippo on 19 April 2001. There have been several other hippo births since, including in 2007.[10]
  • A leopard gave birth to two cubs on 18 June 2001, after a gap of 16 years since the last birth.
  • An alligator has bred for the first time in the zoo on 29 June 2001 and after that several time in past. The number of gharials or alligators here have gone up from 13 to 129 in the last five years.[11]
  • A porcupine bred for the first time in the zoo on 12 June 2001 and gave birth to two baby porcupines.
    One Horned Rhino in Water Puddle during Summer at Patna Zoo
    One Horned Rhino in Water Puddle during Summer at Patna Zoo

Initiative

  • The zoo received a white tiger in the first week of March from Nandan Kanan Zoo, Bhubaneshwar. This has improved the chances of breeding the tiger in the zoo.
  • There is a single male zebra in the zoo. It is expected that a female zebra will arrive in the zoo if the Central Zoo Authority approves the proposal.

Birds

This place provides a good sighting for birders.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "List of Zoos in India, from 1800 until now". kuchbhi.com. Kuchbhi. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park". forest.bih.nic.in. Environment & Forest Dept., Government of Bihar. Archived from the original on 16 October 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  3. ↑ "Patna Zoo". zoopatna.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Search Establishment". cza.nic.in. CZA. Retrieved 4 July 2011.
  5. ↑ "Walk on Jan 1 not allowed in Patna zoo - The Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 29 May 2018.
  6. ↑ "Patna zoo to get 14 new animals - The Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 15 April 2014.
  7. ↑ "Lone Patna zoo elephant to be shifted to Valmikinagar Tiger Reserve - The Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 13 April 2014.
  8. ↑ "Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park-Patna's most frequented picnic spot". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
  9. ↑ ANI (28 April 2008). "Patna zoo on global map for rhino breeding". India Times. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  10. ↑ Kumar, Ajay (14 September 2007). "Newborn Hippo cheers animal lovers at Patna Zoo". India Travel Times. Archived from the original on 13 July 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
  11. ↑ Mishra, Dipak (4 May 2008). "City zoo swarmed with ghariyals". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 25 October 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2010.
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