Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park — Zoo in Pune

Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park and its collection

Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, opened in 1999, is a zoo in Pune, Kanpur division.

The 130 acres are divided three ways, between a zoo, a snake park and an orphanage for animals, and the 42-acre Katraj Lake falls inside the boundary. The city corporation runs it.

History

Madhavrao Peshwe had kept a private menagerie on the spot in 1770, and in 1953 the municipal corporation laid out Peshwe Park there across roughly seven acres. That older zoo, at the foot of Parvati Hill, used cages of a traditional sort. The ground occupied today began as the Katraj Snake Park, established by Neelam Kumar Khaire, who went on to serve as first director.

Animals and collection

A white tiger was formerly on show; the tiger there now is a male Bengal called Tanaji, kept alongside elephants, monkeys, blackbuck, barking deer, sambar, sloth bears and a leopard. Among the reptiles are crocodiles, vipers, cobra, star tortoise and the Indian rock python, while hyenas, foxes, nilgai, mouse deer, Indian giant squirrels and jungle and rusty-spotted cats are proposed additions.

What the venue says

• India's largest walk-through aviary
• There are small eateries, refreshment kiosks, and drinking water fountains scattered across the park grounds.
• There are paid parking facilities outside the zoo.
• The zoo is highly wheelchair accessible.
• The paved pathways throughout the 130 acres are wide and smooth.
• Complimentary wheelchairs are available at the entrance for disabled visitors, and the staff are trained to help ferry elderly or disabled guests onto the internal battery-operated transit vehicles.