| Date opened | 1973[1] |
|---|---|
| Location | Patna, Bihar, India |
| Land area | 152.95 acres (61.90 ha) |
| Number of animals | 800 [2] |
| Number of species | Trees: 300 species [2] Animals: 70 species Fish: 35 species Snakes: 5 species |
| Annual visitors | 750,000 [2] |
| Memberships | CZA[3] |
| Website | forest.bih.nic.in/SGBPark.htm |
Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan (also known as Sanjay Gandhi Botanical and Zoological Garden or Patna Zoo) is located near Bailey Road in Patna, Bihar, India. The park was opened to the public as a zoo in 1973, and is one of the 16 largest zoos in the country.[2] The park is Patna's most frequented picnic spot, with 36,000 visitors on New Year's Day alone in 2011.[4]
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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]
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, giraffe, and zebra, emu, and white peacock.[2]
Having started as a botanical garden, the park currently contains 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]
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.
{{Zoos of India]]
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