Which Is the Biggest Zoo in Pakistan?

By land, the biggest of the six zoos in Pakistan covered here is Lahore Zoo Safari: it covers 242 acres, more than seven times the 33 acres of Karachi Zoo, the next largest. By animals the order changes, because Karachi Zoo keeps more than 800 and Bahawalpur Zoo about 870, against the 416 that Dawn counted at the Safari in 2024. For the fullest day out, go to the Safari, where 80 acres of safari tracks and electric vehicles spread your visit across the park.

Which zoo to choose

The claims you will read online contradict each other, because "biggest" can mean land or animals. Wikipedia calls Karachi Zoo the largest zoo of Pakistan and Peshawar Zoo the second largest, after Karachi, while its Bahawalpur Zoo article ranks Bahawalpur fourth, after Lahore Zoo, Karachi Zoo and Islamabad Zoo. On acreage, Karachi Zoo, Peshawar Zoo, Bahawalpur Zoo and Lahore Zoo all fall well short of the Safari. Here is how the six zoos in this guide, including Vehari Wildlife Park and DG Khan Zoo, compare on land:

• Lahore Zoo Safari: 242 acres
• Karachi Zoo: 33 acres
• Peshawar Zoo: 29 acres
• Bahawalpur Zoo: 25 acres
• Vehari Wildlife Park: 16 acres
• DG Khan Zoo: 12 acres

Count animals instead and the table reshuffles:

• Bahawalpur Zoo: about 870 animals, more than 600 of them birds and more than 180 mammals
• Karachi Zoo: more than 800 animals, including 80 species of mammals, 460 birds and more than 200 reptiles
• Lahore Zoo Safari: 416 animals, as reported in August 2024
• Peshawar Zoo: about 70 species
• Vehari Wildlife Park: 73 mammals and 139 birds, as recorded in 2004

Watch the names in Lahore, which has two zoos. Lahore Zoo, on the Mall beside Lawrence Garden, dates from 1872 but covers 25 acres. Lahore Zoo Safari is a separate park, 13 km from Thokar Niaz Baig on Multan Road.

Lahore Zoo Safari: the biggest by area

The Safari began in 1981 as the Woodland Wildlife Park, and was extensively renovated and renamed Lahore Zoo Safari in January 2009. Its safari tracks alone cover 80 acres, running through the lion and Bengal tiger areas, and its lake, with four islands, is the biggest in Lahore. The species include African lions, Bengal tigers, emus, ostriches, nilgai, mute swans, and common and silver pheasants.

It has also had a makeover. The Safari reopened in February 2024 after about three months' closure, with a new look, a modern fish aquarium where a shark was due to follow, and electric cars that carry you into the enclosures of animals such as antelopes.

Featured location Lahore Zoo Safari Lahore, Pakistan Lahore Zoo Safari is a zoo in Lahore, Pakistan.

Karachi Zoo: a big collection on a small site

Karachi Zoo packs far more into far less. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation says its 33 acres hold more than 800 animals. It opened to the public in 1878, six years after Lahore Zoo, which makes it Pakistan's second-oldest zoo. You will find it in Garden East, where it also goes by Gandhi Garden. Expect company: in December 2025 Karachi's mayor said thousands of people visit the zoo every day.

Peshawar Zoo: the newest

The city's first zoo opened on 12 February 2018, on 29 acres beside the Pakistan Forest Institute, and it is run by the Wildlife Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Some of its first animals, a pair of lions plus nilgai and blackbuck, came from Lahore Zoo in October 2017. In June 2018 three pairs of Bengal tigers arrived from South Africa, followed by giraffes and the opening of a snake house.

Bahawalpur, Vehari and DG Khan

Bahawalpur Zoo is small in land but not in numbers. The Nawab of Bahawalpur, Sir Sadiq Muhammad Khan Abbasi, founded it in 1942 on 25 acres and named it Sher Bagh, "lion garden". The two smallest are worth a stop only if you are already in town. Vehari Wildlife Park opened in 1988 on 16 acres, and its major exhibits are lions, nilgai and hog deer. DG Khan Zoo's 12 acres hold olive baboons, rhesus monkeys, lions, emus and white peacocks.

What not to miss

At Lahore Zoo Safari, let the electric vehicles do the walking: they run to the Salt Range, Pakistan Deer Safari, African Deer Safari, Desert Safari and aquarium areas. The Tiger Safari and Jungle Safari are facilities of their own, and the walkthrough aviary opened in 2004 as the largest in Pakistan. Punjab's wildlife department also lists a play land, lawns and a Jurassic park. Dawn named giraffes among the Safari's animals in 2024, and more were planned: nine of twelve giraffes due to be imported were earmarked for the Safari, along with a pair of rhinos, but in August 2025 the import was reported delayed.

At Karachi Zoo, start at the two-acre lion enclosure that opened in December 2025, where the lions Chandni and Rani live in an open setting, then find the white lions, bought in 2012 for a breeding programme. The Reptile House, one of the few in Pakistan, with 13 species of snakes and lizards, reopened after renovation that same month, and a new tower went up for visitors, especially young people and selfie-takers. The Karachi Municipal Aquarium inside the zoo dates from 1953 and has 28 tanks holding around 300 fish of about 30 species, and the Natural History Museum shows stuffed animals, skins, antlers, horns and feathers. Elsewhere, look for spotted hyenas, Arabian oryx, Bactrian camels, giraffe, zebras, llamas and baboons. Three lion cubs were born at the zoo in November 2025; the following month the Sindh government told the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation to stop the zoo breeding exotic species, big cats above all.

At Bahawalpur, lions are the story, and a lioness there gave birth to three cubs in June 2026.

The Bahawalpur Zoo has always been considered the best facility for lion breeding in the entire country.

The zoo has also bred threatened Asiatic lions, Asian black bears, Bengal tigers, blackbuck and hog deer, and its museum holds what is claimed to be the last lion shot in the Punjab.

Best time to visit

Pakistan's pleasant spring runs from March to May and its dry autumn through October and November, and those are the months to plan a long zoo day around. Summer is hard going on foot: in the plains the mean June temperature is 38°C, and highs can pass 53°C. June to September is also the monsoon season, and winter, from December to February, is cool.

Punjab's wildlife department gives visiting hours of 8am to sunset for the Safari, Bahawalpur Zoo and DG Khan Zoo, so a winter visit is a shorter one. For a hot-weather alternative, Dawn reported in August 2024 that the Safari had started a Night Lion Safari, billed as the first in Pakistan, running from 8pm to 10pm; confirm it is still running before you plan an evening around it. The Safari has parking for more than 600 vehicles and opens an extra car park outside when holiday crowds build, so on public holidays, arrive early.

Tickets and getting there

Punjab's wildlife department lists these entry fees, checked September 2026:

• Lahore Zoo Safari: Rs20 for adults and Rs10 for children, plus Rs100 per vehicle for the Lion Safari.
• Bahawalpur Zoo: Rs50 for adults, Rs30 for children and Rs20 for students, with senior citizens free. Parking is Rs20 per car and Rs10 per motorcycle.
• DG Khan Zoo: Rs10 for adults and Rs5 for children.

Where to find each zoo:

• Lahore Zoo Safari: 13 km from Thokar Niaz Baig on Multan Road, Lahore, with parking for more than 600 vehicles.
• Karachi Zoo: in Garden East, Karachi.
• Peshawar Zoo: on Palosi Road, beside the Pakistan Forest Institute.
• Bahawalpur Zoo: 5 km from the railway station, next to the General Bus Stand and opposite Dring Stadium.
• DG Khan Zoo: about 4 km from Lari Adda, near the Commissioner House.
• Vehari Wildlife Park: on Eidgah Road, Vehari.

At Bahawalpur, the department lists children's amusement, a museum, an aquarium, a cafe, a gift shop and a bird aviary among the zoo's facilities.

Other wildlife nearby

Karachi Safari Park, a family-only park of 148 acres in Gulshan-e-Iqbal that opened in 1970, is more than four times the size of Karachi Zoo. It has an elephant enclave with a bathing space and resting area, a five-acre elephant sanctuary that took in Karachi Zoo's Madhubala in November 2024, and a 10-minute chairlift ride inaugurated in March 2006.

Lal Suhanra National Park, some 35 km east of Bahawalpur, is one of Pakistan's largest national parks and a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Its native wildlife includes hog deer, chinkara, blackbuck, nilgai and the Indian wolf. Bahawalpur Zoo has bred blackbuck and hog deer, so a morning at the zoo shows you what to look for in the park.