The Thiruvananthapuram Zoo (also known as Trivandrum Zoo) is located in the city of

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, the capital of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. It occupies of woodland, lakes, and lawns.

History

Thiruvananthapuram Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in India. Similarly the Museum and Botanical Gardens are also one of the oldest of their kind in the country.

Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma ( ml, സ്വാതി തിരുനാള്‍ രാമവർമ്മ) (16 April 1813 – 26 December 1846) was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He is also considered as a brilliant music composer and is credited with over 4 ...

(1816–1846), the ruler of Travancore during 1830–1846, was the visionary behind the establishment of the Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo. He had a broad variety of animals, including elephants in his horse breeding centre. In the Trivandrum, stables he incorporated a menagerie and kept tigers, panthers cheetahs, deer, bears and a lioness there. It was however left to his brother

Uthram Thirunal Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma (26 September 1814 – 18 August 1860) was the Maharajah of Travancore state in southern India, succeeding his elder brother Maharajah Swathi Thirunal in 1846 till his demise in 1860. Known for his progress ...

Marthanda Varma and the then British Resident General Cullen which resulted in the establishment of Napier Museum and

Zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to z ...

in Thiruvananthapuram. A committee was formed in 1855 with the Maharaja of Travancore as Patron, General Cullen as president, The Elaya Raja as vice president and Mr. Allen Brown as Secretary of the Committee and the Director of Museum. The Museum was thrown open to the Public in September 1857. But the Museum by itself could not attract the people much, and therefore a Zoo and a park were started in 1859. The zoo was originally built with the typical iron-barred cages prevalent at the time, and was designed for recreational purposes, but with increased loss of forest and wildlife due to human development, the goal of the Zoo has changed from recreation to conservation. Asiatic lion in Thiruvananthapuram Zoo

A modernization project started in 1995, aims to gradually replace the old enclosures with spacious naturalistic enclosures. The state government of Kerala is undertaking this renovation with financial and technical help from the

Central Zoo Authority The Central Zoo Authority (CZA) is the body of the government of India responsible for oversight of zoos. It is an affiliate member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). The CZA was formed to bring Indian zoos up to internation ...

Mammals

The Thiruvananthapuram Zoo is home to 82 species from around the world. Indigenous species at the zoo include

lion-tailed macaque The lion-tailed macaque (''Macaca silenus''), also known as the wanderoo, is an Old World monkey endemic to the Western Ghats of South India. Characteristics Lion-tailed macaques are covered in black fur, and have a striking gray or silver ...

Nilgiri langur The Nilgiri langur (''Semnopithecus johnii'') is a langur (a type of Old World monkey) . This primate has glossy black fur on its body and golden brown fur on its head. It is similar in size and long-tailed like the gray langurs. Females have ...

Indian rhinoceros } The Indian rhinoceros (''Rhinoceros unicornis''), also called the Indian rhino, greater one-horned rhinoceros or great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red Li ...

Asiatic lion The Asiatic lion is a population of '' Panthera leo leo'' that today survives in the wild only in India. Since the turn of the 20th century, its range has been restricted to Gir National Park and the surrounding areas in the Indian state of Gujar ...

, royal Bengal tiger,

white tiger The white tiger or bleached tiger is a leucistic pigmentation variant of the Mainland tiger. It is reported in the wild from time to time in the Indian states of Madhya Pradesh, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha, in the Sunderbans region and ...

and

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

, as well as nine

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus '' Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in t ...

s (as of 31 March 2009). in 2020, animals from Africa include

giraffe The giraffe is a large African hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa''. It is the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on Earth. Traditionally, giraffes were thought to be one species, '' Giraffa camelopardal ...

hippos A hippo or hippopotamus is either of two species of large African mammal which live mainly in and near water: * Hippopotamus * Pygmy hippopotamus Hippo or Hippos may also refer to: Toponymy * The ancient city of Hippo Regius (modern Annaba, Al ...

zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

s, and Cape buffalos. The zoo also includes a snake farm called 'The Reptile House', which exhibits both poisonous and non-poisonous snakes. It also houses 7 Anacondas too. Deers in TVM zoo

Birds

* Ostrich * Scarlet macaw * Green-winged macaw * Indian peafowl * White spoonbill * Greater flamingo * Cassowary * Sulfur-crested cockatoo * Common crane * White-necked crane * Black-necked crane *Grey heron * White ibis * Blossom headed parakeet * Rose-ringed parakeet * Alexandrine parakeet * Mustached parakeet * Gray pelican * Rosy pelican * Silver pheasant * Ring-necked pheasant * Rock dove * Adjutant stork * Painted stork * White stork * White necked stork * Black-necked stork * Cinereous vulture * King vulture * White Backed vulture * Turkey vulture * Pariah kite * Brahminy kite * Emu

Reptiles

* Anaconda * Reticulated Python * Gharial * Mugger crocodile * Spectacled caiman * Monitor lizard * Bamboo pit viper * Indian cobra * Indian rock python * Rat snake * Russell's viper * Checkered keelback * King cobra * Red sandboa * Green tree snake * Indian flapshell turtle * Indian black turtle * Crowned river turtle * Travancore tortoise

Gallery

File:Trivandrum Zoo 33.jpg, Thiruvananthapuram Zoo Campus File:Napier Museum Thiruvananthapuran DSW New.jpg, Napier Museum

File:Zeebra in Trivandrum Zoo.JPG,

Zebra Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zebr ...

in Thiruvananthapuram Zoo File:Hippopotamus in Thiruvananthapuram Zoo.JPG, alt=Hippopotamus in Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, Hippopotamus in Thiruvananthapuram Zoo File:Rhinoceros at Trivandrum Zoo DSW.jpg,

Rhinoceros A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct specie ...

at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo File:Barking Deer at Trivandrum Zoo DSW.JPG,

Barking deer Barking may refer to: Places * Barking, London, a town in East London, England ** London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, a local government district covering the town of Barking ** Municipal Borough of Barking, a historical local government dist ...

at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo File:Leopard inside cage at Trivandrum Zoo DSW.jpg,

Leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia, ...

inside cage at Thiruvananthapuram Zoo File:Brahminy Kite In Zoo.jpg, Brahminy Kite found in Thiruvananthapuram Zoo File:Indian Bison in Zoo, TVM.jpg, Indian Bison in Thiruvananthapuram zoo File:Deers in Zoo, TVM.jpg, Deers in Thiruvananthapuram zoo File:Hippos in Zoo, TVM.jpg, Hippopotamus in Thiruvananthapuram zoo File:Herd of Indian Bisons.jpg, Herd of Indian Bisons in Thiruvananthapuram Zoo File:Herd of Deer and Sambar.jpg, Herd of Deer including sambar in Thiruvananthapuram Zoo File:Feeding deers in zoo.jpg, Feeding the deers File:Walking Tiger in Zoo.webm, Waking Tiger in TVM zoo

References

External links

Official Web Site

Thiruvananthapuram Zoo Photographs, 2011

Salman the fat

jaguar The jaguar (''Panthera onca'') is a large cat species and the only living member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to the Americas. With a body length of up to and a weight of up to , it is the largest cat species in the Americas and the th ...

{{Tourism in Kerala, state=collapsed Zoos in Kerala Tourist attractions in Thiruvananthapuram 1857 establishments in India Zoos established in 1857