Zoo reminds us all of those years when we were young, perhaps very young and we were taken to a zoo whether with our family or as a picnic trip from school. Remember the first time we saw those wild animals such as a tiger, lion, hippopotamus, rhinoceros, elephant, or crocodile in captivity. It must have been really amazing to see such wild animals for real and learn a few intriguing and trivial things about the animal from our teachers or friends. All of it seems nostalgic today.

And we would like the same thing to be felt by our children as well. As it is vacation time and most children would want to go to such places where they can enjoy the whole day watching animals and learning about them. It can be a very good experience for them, because watching such animals closely will arouse interest not only in animals but also their habitats, environment, etc. Many students who take up biology as one of their major subjects definitely would have gone to a zoo in their childhood and were inspired to know more about them.

There are about 198 recognized zoos in India in both prominent cities such as Chennai, Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Lucknow, and Hyderabad as well as in other cities such as Visakhapatnam, Kanpur, Guwahati, Ranchi, Jaipur, Mysore, Nainital, Darjeeling, Trivandrum, etc. Marble Palace Zoo in Kolkata is the oldest zoo in India. It was established in the year 1854. Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park in Tirupathi is the largest zoo in India with a total area of about 2212 hectares.

Most of the zoos in India display about 23 amphibians, 17,291 birds, 20,219 mammals, and 8193 reptiles. But, these numbers are not constant as most zoos display all the above-mentioned types of animals and some locally available animal species. Among these, there are 84 bird species, 45 mammal species, and 13 reptile species that are endangered in the wild. Apart from these zoos, there are many national parks in each of the states in India. Each of the national parks in India is known for different animals that are locally known.

All these zoos are maintained by the Central Zoo Authority (CZA), under the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. CZA is an affiliate member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums. The CZA takes care of rescuing animals and shifting them to the zoo for treating them for their injuries and diseases. In some cases, animals from the wild are tested and used for mating with in-house animals. The Central Zoo Authority not only manages zoos but also strives to maintain biodiversity and environmental conservation.

State-wise List Of Zoos In India