Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram

India

&lt;p&gt;Thiruvananthapuram Zoo is one of the oldest zoo in India&comma; located near the famous &lt;a href&equals;&quot;https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;travalour&period;com&sol;locationcard&sol;534-napier-museum&quot;&gt;Napier Museum&lt;&sol;a&gt; along with a botanical garden&period; The zoo and the gardens are spread over an&amp;nbsp&semi;area of 36 acres&comma; giving emphasis and awareness about wildlife conservation of endemic and endangered species in the Western Ghat Mountains and to help in wildlife research&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;h3&gt;History of the zoo&amp;rsquo&semi;s establishment&lt;&sol;h3&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The poet king Swathi Thirunal Varma of Travancore Kingdom who ruled between 1830-1846 was the person behind the idea of the zoo and the nearby museum&period; The king had a good collection of animals including elephants&comma; horses&comma; tigers&comma; cheetahs&comma; deer&comma; bear and lions which were used to keep in the area&period; The combined efforts from his brother Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma and the then British Resident General Cullen resulted in the formation of the zoo and the Napier museum&period; The museum was opened to the public in 1857 and subsequently the zoo was opened in 1859&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;Till about 25 years ago&comma; the zoo had plenty of animals and bird species that were gathered and displayed mainly for recreational purposes&period; Even with a large collection&comma; only negligible extent of area was used for housing and displaying them- in tiny cement floored&comma; iron fenced cages&period; Beginning of 1996&comma; the zoo undergone a change with the help of Central Zoo Authority of India and since then the animals were moved to open enclosures&period; An animal hospital was also set up in the zoo premises&period; With the increased loss of forests and wildlife&comma; the goal of the zoo was changed from recreational to conservation as well&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;h3&gt;Animals inhibiting the zoo&lt;&sol;h3&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The zoo is home to many animals&period; Primates&comma; Herbivores&comma; Carnivores&comma; birds&comma; reptiles&comma; butterflies and fishes that live in the middle of a botanical garden with nicely done landscapes&comma; large trees and towering bamboos&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;Primates at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The zoo has four species of Macaques and Langurs among which Lion Tailed Macaque and Nilgiri Langurs&comma; both a kind of old world monkey and endemic to the Western Ghat Mountains are greatly endangered&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The large herbivores and the dangerous meat eaters&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The predominant herbivores species at the zoo are Rhinoceros&comma; Hippopotamus&comma; Sambar &lpar;large deer native to Indian subcontinent&rpar;&comma; spotted&comma; barking&comma; bharasinga &lpar;swamp deer&rpar; and hog deer&period; It also includes Nilgai and Black Buck- the Indian antelopes&period; Prominent among the carnivores species are the lion&comma; tiger&comma; panther&comma; jaguar&comma; bear&comma; jackals and white tiger&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The endemic and exotic bird collection&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;A variety of waterbirds such as storks&comma; pelicans&comma; egrets&comma; herons&comma; spoon bulls&comma; ibis and are housed in spacious enclosures that imitate their natural habitat&period; Different kinds of colourful pheasants and ducks&comma; and exotic birds like macaws&comma; turacos&comma; cockatoos and ostrich also fascinates visitors&period; Raptors such as owls&comma; kites&comma; eagles and vultures are also present in the zoo&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The kings of the reptile world&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The reptile collection includes snakes&comma; lizards&comma; turtles&comma; crocodiles&comma; alligators etc&period;&period; King Cobra- the largest poisonous snake and green anaconda- one of the largest snakes in the world are major attractions at the zoo&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;Butterfly garden and Aquarium&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The butterfly garden houses more than hundred species of butterflies&period; The garden is planted with a variety of host and nectar plants that attract myriad of these butterflies&period; Southern bird wing- the largest butterfly in India is a special attraction here&period; In addition to the garden there are over 15 species of fishes can be found in the zoo aquarium&period; The aquarium also aids in conservation and propagation of rare and endangered fishes in the region&period; The aquarium was established much recently in 2011&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;h3&gt;Support the conservation efforts taken by the zoo&lt;&sol;h3&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;To become a part of the conservation efforts taken by the zoo&comma; public are given an opportunity to adopt animals for specific periods&period; Anyone&comma; including individuals&comma; corporations&comma; schools or clubs can adopt an animal and the contributions are used to support the concerned animal&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;h3&gt;Getting to Thiruvananthapuram Zoo&lt;&sol;h3&gt;&NewLine;&NewLine;&lt;p&gt;The zoo is located in Thiruvananthapuram District of Kerala State in Southern India&period; Situated right at the heart of Thiruvananthapuram City&period; It is walking distance from the Thiruvananthapuram railway station which connects the city to most other parts of the country&period;&lt;&sol;p&gt;&NewLine;

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Thiruvananthapuram Zoo

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