Alipore Zoo Kolkata
Visiting Kolkata? Want more fun in the city? Visit the biggest tourist place and the best ecological garden, Alipore zoo Kolkata. It's a zoological garden located in Alipore, Kolkata, West Bengal. It's open since 1876 and has been the biggest tourist attraction in the city. This zoological garden attracts more tourists in the winter season. If you love nature, birds, animals, then this is the right place for you. Visiting this zoo will make a nice experience.
Alipore zoo in Kolkata has a ticket counter right outside the main gate. This is the fees chart you just need to remember.
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5 rupees per person for an aquarium for adults or children.
30 rupees per person for the zoo for adults or children.
250 per person for still/ video photography.
10 rupees per person up to the age of 5 years.
Alipore zoo has a parking lot outside. The nearest metro station is Netaji Bhawan and Rabindra Sadan. It is convenient for many directions.
Animals of Alipore Zoo Kolkata
Alipore zoo has more than 1200 individual zoo animals and around 106 species. There are more than 40 Mammals, like, royal Bengal tiger, African lion, jaguar, leopard, white tiger, Asian elephant, deer, wolf, bear, and many more. It has more than 20 reptiles like the crocodile, King cobra, snakes, yellow anaconda, etc. There are near about 70 species of birds, like, emu, osprey, great horned owl, Indian parakeet, grey parrot, lovebirds, bare eyed cockatoo, Joel, Sarus crane, ostrich, Black swan, white swan, Indian peafowl, etc. Also, it has some primates, like, chimpanzee, baboon, lemur, etc.
The attraction points at Alipore zoo are ‘The Reptile House’, ‘Primate House’, ‘Elephant House’, and ‘Panther House’. The Panther House is an open-air enclosure for lions and tigers. There is a separate children’s zoo and an aquarium that’s named Alipore Zoo Aquarium. There are centrally located water enclosures inside the zoo premises that are for the migratory of birds. Alipore zoo animals are taken care of by zoo authorities.
The most famous attraction was among the Alipore Zoo animals, Adwaita, Aldabra giant tortoise, a male giant tortoise, the longest live animal in the world, at Indian Alipore zoo. From, 1750 to 2006. Weighing 250 kg (551 lb), Adwaita was a solitary animal with no records of his progeny. He lived on a diet of wheat bran, carrots, lettuce, soaked gram (chickpea), bread, grass, and salt. His shell cracked in 2005, and there was a wound that gets infected and led to his death from liver failure.
Breeding Project
Alipore zoo is the first zoo in India to breed white tigers and giraffe. Captive breeding in Kolkata Alipore Zoo has been successful and raised many animals here. Many enclosures like macaw, giraffe, zebra has increased its population in the last three to four years.
Many zoos in the world have exchanged animals with each other. Last year, the zoo had to let go of three adult elephants because of the size of their enclosure. But two young elephants were brought in from north Bengal. The increase of zebra and giraffe is also an achievement because both these species aren't found in the wild anywhere in India.
History of Alipore Zoo in Kolkata
The Alipore Zoo was mainly established in 1876 by Governor-General of India, Richard Wellesley, back then as a part of the Indian natural history project. At that time, many more zoos were developed around the world. The British community of Kolkata decided to create a formal zoological garden. Then Prince of Whales inaugurated the Alipore Zoo on 1st January 1876, which was finally opened in Alipore to the general public on 6 May in the same year.
The first Indian superintendent of the zoo was Ram Brahma Sanyal, who did improvement to the zoo and started a captive breeding project which was successful.
How to Reach Alipore Zoo from Different Places?
From South Kolkata:
If you are coming from South Kolkata, you can avail train bus metro or cab. Get on a bus from anywhere in South Kolkata which can take you directly to the zoo. Or the nearest convenient place is Rabindra Sadan. You will get buses outside from Rabindra Sadan metro station which will take you to the zoo.
Also you can get on a metro, a get down at Netaji Bhawan metro station or Rabindra Sadan metro station. Then get a bus or a cab which can take to to the Alipore zoo.
From North Kolkata:
If you are coming from North Kolkata, you can take a bus or avail metro from Shyam Bazar, Dumdum, esplanade etc. Get down at Rabindra Sadan it Netaji Bhawan.
From Sealdah:
You can find buses from Sealdah or Moulali, which will take you directly to the Alipore zoo.
From Howrah:
You can take buses to reach at the zoo. Or you can get on a launch at the Ganga river, go to Babughat. Then get a bus.
Kolkata Alipore zoo is very convenient from any places in Kolkata. You can always follow the Google map if you get lost. There is many help booth on the streets of Kolkata. Police Vans are always there to help you. So you don't need to worry to reach zoo.
What to do at the Zoo
If you are thinking about spending a day with your family or friends at the zoo, you can have many things to do there. You can carry food with their rules, but littering is not allowed there. Just think about a picnic day, and it will be like that. There are open airfields, planted with grass, many people go there and spend their day with having fun. Explore the whole zoo, eat food water, explore the animals' habitats and exposures.
There are eight tigers in Alipore zoo right now. Each animal has their names and information written outside their exposures, you can find out them. Children will love giraffes. Children will also love the monkeys, zebras, bears, birds.
If you are a photographer or love to shoot still photographs, there is a lot of frames you can find interesting. So many animals, trees are there. You can shoot videos on animals, birds, etc.
Many schools and colleges go to the zoo every year for excursion, they learn practically from the animals. It is always good to have practical experiences rather than book knowledge.
Alipore Zoo Aquarium
Alipore zoological garden is going to convert their reptile and fish enclosure opposite the main zoo campus into a world-class mega aquarium. There will be fishes of many uncommon species, they will be making an aquarium by studying the height and the depth of an aquarium should have for many sizes fishes.
In the Alipore zoo aquarium, there are lots of fish species, like kissing gourami from Thailand, alligators from North America, zebrafish, etc with proper habitats.
After expansion, Alipore zoo will get more animals like four zebras from South Africa,
purebred Asiatic lions, emus, iguanas, and three leopards and after a long time, four kangaroos.
Popularity
This zoological garden is the most crowded and popular among tourists. Each year there is so much crowd that happens during the winter season, but all the year people go there to enjoy the scenic beauty and the animals. The annual visitors of Alipore zoo are around 3million. It's very popular because of the exposures, variety of animals, variety of birds , reptiles and many more individual animals.
The zoo is located next to the river Ganges and very near to the racecourse and Police Training School and opposite the famous hotel Taj. Alipore zoo occupies a large area near about 45 arcs.
Alipore zoo is a home to captive breeding, wounded animals like Bengal tiger, deer, birds are brought from sunder ban reserve forests, and Garumara to keep them under special care and these animals return to their natural habitat once they are well. Last year an injured leg of a royal Bengal tiger has been successfully cured by a group of veterinary doctors.
A 4-month female elephant, left by her family in Garumara reserve, has been recovered and she is the youngest member of the zoo now.
Best time to visit Alipore Zoo Kolkata
You can go to the zoo any time of the year, though, in the winter season you may find all the animals outside their home or den. They come out to take the sunlight because in the cage or their den it may be a little cold. So you can see the lion, tiger bear. If you don't want a crowd if you want to stay calm when you should avoid December or January. The most crowded months of the year. Except for these two months, you can go, see, explore nature, explore the animals, their way of life, and enjoy yourself.
Alipore Zoo have some rules to protect the environment of the zoo and ensure the safety of the inmates ahead of the winter season when lakhs of visitors come every year.
They have reinforced several rules before the season begins. Apart from the advertisements on the television, boards displaying dos and don’ts while inside the zoo premises will be put up everywhere and there will be announcements made through microphones about the dos and Don'ts. Alipore zoo authorities have been found some cases where people get violent or did some inhumane things with the animals, like throwing stones or foods.
The visitors will not be allowed to bring plastic bottles, food containers and polythene bags.
Recently, the zoo authorities also released mosquito larvae-eating fishes in the water bodies inside the zoo premises to prevent these from becoming breeding ground of disease-carrying mosquitoes.
Do-s and Don't-s at Kolkata Alipore Zoo
Do-s
Visitors are not allowed to bring plastic bottles or canned food inside the premises. So, using eco-friendly containers like Shaal-pata and the paper plates will be recommended.
Do keep the zoo premises clean. It's our duty to make a clean environment and to do so, we should maintain and use dustbins as well.
Enjoy the vast collection of trees and nature of the zoo. There is a lot of trees planted to keep the habitats cool. Also for the birds.
Do try to cooperate with your fellow visitors. Try to be helpful and peaceful in the premises.
Please extend your full cooperation with the management and security staff of the zoo.
If you notice any suspicious activity, immediately report to the zoo authority.
Don't-s
Do not enter the zoo premises with plastic bags or bottles. Plastic food cans. These are harmful for the nature.
Do not feed or tease any wild animal in the zoo. This will make them uncomfortable and it is also a crime.
Do not play an audio system, the music inside the zoo. Too much noise is not acceptable in the zoo. It will be punishable if anyone get caught doing these. Try to report this kind of activity if anyone finds it.
Do not play cricket, football, badminton, flying dish, etc. inside the zoo.
Do not litter in the zoo.
Do not try to enter any animal enclosure. It can be life-threatening. This is not a good clever thing to do.
Do not carry firearms or any sharp objects.
Although, outside food is not allowed in the zoo premises.
Adoption Scheme at Alipore Zoo Kolkata
There is a scheme at the Alipore zoo, named "Adopt an Animal". This scheme began in 2003. Near about 40 animals were adopted from Alipore zoo, if anyone adopts an animal, they will get tax benefits from the government. Sanjay Budhia, chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry, the national committee on exports, adopted a one-horned rhino.
So visiting Alipore zoo to explore zoo animals and the beautiful natural zoological garden of Kolkata, will be worth it. This zoo is also home for some migratory birds like ducks, Siberian birds. In the winter season some birds fly miles to come here and stay whole winter. They stay at the zoo wetlands. However, the number of migratory birds visiting the zoo dropped from over 40% in the winter of 2004–2005.
