Among the hustle and bustle of the busy city of Kolkata one can find an oasis of peace, serenity and natural beauty at the Alipore Zoo, Kolkata. Located at Alipore Road, the Alipore Zoological Gardens or Alipore Zoo, Kolkata is the largest and oldest zoological park in India. Enclosing an area of nearly 45 acres it has a rich collection of flora and fauna apart from wild animals in natural enclosures.
The zoo's actual root was in the private menagerie of Arthur Wellesley, Governor of Bengal which was established in 1800 in his summer house at Barrackpore near Kolkata. The British community in Kolkata decided to upgrade this menagerie to a formal zoological garden. At last Sir Richard Temple, Lieutenant-Governor of Bengal formally proposed the formation of a zoo in 1873 and allotted the land for the zoo.
On 1st January 1876 Edward VII, Prince of Wales formally inaugurated the zoo and it was thrown open to the public on May 6th of the same year. The private menagerie of Carl Louis Schwendler (1838-1882) became the nucleus of the zoo consisting of Indian Antelope, Spotted Deer, Hog Deer, Sambar Deer, Zanzibar Ram etc. Slowly the zoo grew on the gifts from Indian and British nobility who had a fascination for wild and exotic animals.
At first the management of the park was run by an honorary managing committee comprising of Schwendler who was also called the 'Father of the Zoo' and well renown botanist George King. Alipore Zoo, Kolkata is one of the top destinations in winter when the footfall peaks especially on Christmas Day and New Year's Day. The zoo has numerous exotic animals like the famous Royal Bengal Tiger, White Tiger, Great Indian One-horned Rhinoceros, Grant's Zebra, Indian Elephant and many others. That’s not all! you will come face to face with a colorful collection of attractive birds like Lorikeet, Macaws; large birds like Emu, Ostrich, Hornbills; colorful game birds like the Golden Pheasant, Lady Amherst's Pheasant, Swinhoe's Pheasant and many more. Another important and most famous attraction was "Adwaita" a Giant Aldabra Tortoise which was brought from Seychelles and gifted to the zoo in 1875. Unfortunately it died in 2006 at a ripe age of 250 years!
Alipore Zoo, Kolkata is also a pit stop for several migratory birds like the Sarus Crane. These migratory birds rest on the wetland at the center of the zoo and it becomes a huge community during the winter times. Don't miss this oasis of natural beauty at Alipore Zoo, Kolkata while you are in the city.
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