page_title: Arignar Anna Zoological Park
section_title: Exhibits
hierarchical_section_title: Arignar Anna Zoological Park / Exhibits
caption_attribution_description: English: Birds in Lake - Vandalur Zoo
context_page_description: Arignar Anna Zoological Park, also known as the Vandalur Zoo, is a zoological garden located in Vandalur, is in the southwestern part of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, about 31 kilometres from the Chennai Central and 15 kilometres from Chennai Airport. Established in 1855, it is the first public zoo in India. It is affiliated with the Central Zoo Authority of India. Spread over an area of 602 hectares, including a 92.45-hectare rescue and rehabilitation centre, the park is the largest zoological park in India. The zoo houses 2,553 species of flora and fauna across 1,265 acres. As of 2012 the park houses around 1,500 wild species, including 46 endangered species, in its 160 enclosures. As of 2010, there were about 47 species of mammals, 63 species of birds, 31 species of reptiles, 5 species of amphibians, 28 species of fishes, and 10 species of insects in the park. The park, with an objective to be a repository of the state's fauna, is credited with being the second wildlife sanctuary in Tamil Nadu after Mudumalai National Park.
context_section_description: The park has 81 enclosures and more than 170 species of mammals, birds and reptiles, such as the barking deer, blackbuck, sambar, sangai, nilgai, wolf, tiger, jaguar, hog deer, jackal, hyena, lion, giraffe, camel, otter, llama, elephant, and a number of monkey species such as Nilgiri langur, lion-tailed macaque, baboon, Hanuman langur and leaf-capped langur. There are about 46 endangered animals of the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats and the Indian subcontinent such as the Nilgiri macaques, as well as other rare species including monitor lizard, chimpanzees, European brown bear, Muscovy duck, giraffe, Bengal tiger, white tiger, lemur, macaque, vulture, and star tortoises. The park is also home to exotic species such as the Australian flightless bird species of emu and cassowary. The park contains about 138 plant species, including cashew and eucalyptus. The dense vegetation of the park supports about 56 species of butterfly.
  Animals at the park includes:
  List of animals
  Mammals
  Asiatic wild ass
  Savanna baboon
  European brown bear
  Himalayan black bear
  Sloth bear
  Binturong (bear cat)
  Blackbuck
  Indian wild boar
  Brown capuchin
  Common palm civet cat (toddy cat)
  Jungle cat
  Chimpanzee
  Hog deer
  Spotted deer (chital)
  Dhole (Indian wild dog)
  Asian elephant
  Gaur
  Nile hippopotamus
  Pygmy hippopotamus
  Striped hyena
  Jackal
  Jaguar
  Common langur
  Nilgiri langur
  Asiatic lion
  Bonnet macaque
  Lion-tailed macaque
  Rhesus macaque
  Muntjac (barking deer)
  Nilgai
  Common otter
  Indian porcupine
  Sambar
  Sangai
  Indian giant squirrel
  Tiger
  Grant's zebra
  Birds
  Cockatiel
  White-crested cockatoo
  Little cormorant
  Demoiselle crane
  Sarus crane
  Darter (snake-bird)
  Cattle egret
  Little egret
  Grey heron
  Night heron
  Pond heron
  White ibis
  Macaw
  Grey partridge
  Indian peafowl
  Rosy pelican
  Spoonbill
  Adjutant stork
  Painted stork
  Whitebacked vulture (Bengal vulture)
  Reptiles
  Indian cobra
  King cobra
  Estuarine crocodile (saltwater crocodile)
  Mugger (marsh crocodile)
  Gharial
  Checkered keelback
  Common Indian krait
  Common monitor lizard
  Indian rock python
  Reticulated python
  Common rat snake
  Starred tortoise
  Russell's viper
  Saw-scaled viper
  Safaris
  As part of the park's development plan, safari parks for lion, gaur and deer have been created on a hilly terrain covering an area of 70 hectares (170 acres), enabling the visitors to see the animals in their natural habitats.
  The lion park has been developed in an area of 30 hectares (74 acres) at a cost of about ₹ 2.358 million and is operational since October 1990 providing the visitors a 15-min drive into the safari. The safari contains 15 animals and these are involved in captive breeding. As the lions started forming groups according to their instincts and compatibility, the zoo authorities apportioned two small areas within the existing safari area in 2012, work on which started in January 2012 at a cost of ₹ 600,000, enabling the visitors to see one pride in the open forest area and the other two in the newly created fenced yards. These enclosures had been created on a 160-sq m area, with facilities such as rest shed and water trough. Each pride consists of three to four animals.
  The deer park was opened in 2008. It covers 35 hectares (86 acres) and is home to more than 100 animals including sambar and spotted deer.
  Elephant safari was introduced in the zoo in the summer of 2008, providing a ride on elephants for a tour around the zoo. The park is the only place after Mudumalai in the Nilgiris that organises elephant safari rides in the state. There are 3 elephants in the park and 2 more have been brought from Mudumalai to start the safari.
  The park authorities plan to create a new Indian Gaur safari in 2011 in part of the current lion safari area. The lion safari has two geographical regions—hilly and plains. At present, the lions move around in the plains region (about 12 hectares (30 acres) of the 30-hectare (74-acre) total area) and are not allowed into the hilly region. The proposed gaur safari would be created on the 18 hectares (44 acres) of the hilly terrain. In 2007, a night safari project in the park was promoted wit
caption: A pair of Bird in Vandalur Zoo
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