Alipore Zoo, India’s Oldest Zoological Garden, Celebrates 150 Years—GetBengal story

Alipore Zoo, India’s oldest zoo and Kolkata’s most beloved tourist attraction, turned 150 on Tuesday, 24 September 2024. Established on September 24, 1875, the zoological garden was originally called The Prince of Wales Zoological Garden. It opened to the general public a year after it was installed.

A memorabilia book released to commemorate 150 years of the first zoological park in India shares some riveting nuggets of information about the park’s past. Alipore Zoo has seen many firsts in zoological parks and gardens. The memorabilia book celebrates these landmark moments. 

One of the passages from the book reads, “Our two best lions came from Mesopotamia... These lions came separately; the first one named Haoon-al-Rasheed was so tamed that Sir Buckland kept him in his garden for some time and treated him like any pet dog.” Buckland was the second president of the park. Another passage in the book talks about how bewildered the babus of Bengal were when they first saw giraffes. Buckland said, “One fine Hindoo gentleman with whom I have many times been out tiger shooting on his property suggested that the giraffe was a new sort of tiger, but he was comforted and convinced when he saw them eat a branch of a tree from my hands.”

These lines and many others in the book have been borrowed from the writings of Ram Brahma Sanyal. He was an ordinary worker but soon became the first Indian superintendent of the zoo. Sanyal was an extraordinary naturalist and zookeeper, Carl Louis Schwendler's assistant. Schwendler was passionate about wildlife and was a member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. He had set up a private menagerie of his own while he was living in Calcutta.

A bust of Sanyal was unveiled on Tuesday as part of the celebrations. Tuesday also marked the inauguration of the new gates on Alipore Road and National Library Avenue. Along with that, new enclosures for mouse deer, four-horned antelope, hog deer, Bengal fox, and leopard cat were also inaugurated.

There are also plans to bring African lions to the zoo. 

Sanyal’s book, A Handbook of the Management of Animals in Captivity, published in 1892, is regarded as the primary guide for many zoos across the country and the world. 

“Sanyal’s teachings are still like gospel for zookeepers. It is an honour for us to be able to honour the man.”

“Taking Sanyal’s legacy forward, Alipore Zoo has also been a pioneer in captive breeding programs, from rhinos to giraffes to critically endangered brow-antlered deer of Manipur,” said Sengupta.

Ram Brahma Sanyal did a lot to improve the standing of the Alipore Zoo and achieved good captive breeding success in an era when such initiatives were rarely heard of.

State forest minister Birbaha Hansda urged everyone to cooperate to take the legacy of the zoo forward. The Zoological Garden, Alipore, or Chiriakhana, witnessed a lineup of elaborate celebrations and a series of activities on Tuesday and has a catalogue of activities planned out for the rest of the year. Painting competitions and poster-making competitions for school and college students were organised. As the zoological park completed such a massive milestone, this momentous event was celebrated with ministers and forest officials sharing their experiences and anecdotes about the Kolkata attraction and the felicitation of the past directors of the zoo, as well as their family members.

Over the years, Alipore Zoo has continued to evolve and make it more accessible for people and a better living environment for the animals. Last year, in December, the zoo introduced braille boards for visually impaired visitors so that they could experience the marvels of the zoological park as well. 

In August of this year, Alipore Zoo introduced e-cycles to make inspection of enclosures and their surroundings easier for zookeepers. This step fosters sustainable green mobility and creates a quieter environment for the animals. By embracing eco-friendly choices, the zoo has continuously chosen a healthier future. 

Tuesday’s program was presided over by the Minister of State Department of Forest, Government of West Bengal, Birbaha Hansda. Firhad Hakim, the Mayor of Kolkata, Mala Roy, Member of Lok Sabha, and Niraj Singhal, Head of the Forest Force, Bengal, were among the attendees.