Arignar Anna Zoological Park

City: Chennai
Country: India
State: Tamil Nadu
Opend 1855

Species 170

 

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, panther, hog deer, jackal, hyena, lion, giraffe, camel, otter, llama, elephant, a number of monkey species like 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 emu and cassowary, which are flightless birds from Australia. The park contains about 138 plant species, including cashew and eucalyptus.

The zoo houses 2,553 species of flora and fauna across 1,265 acres (512 ha). The Central Zoo Authority of India has identified the park as coordinating zoo for the breeding programmes for endangered species as per the National Zoo Policy adopted by the Government of India in 1988, which states that the main objective of zoos will be to complement and strengthen national efforts in the conservation of the country's rich biodiversity and that the species which have no chance of survival in the wild would be bred under ex-situ conditions. The park has a high rate of success in captive breeding of lion-tailed macaques. In 2010, the zoo had 22 lion-tailed macaques, from a breeding pair that were brought to the zoo in 1983. The park is also successful in breeding other rare species in captivity, including ostrich, Asian palm civet, Indian gaur, wild dog, Asiatic lion, Nilgiri langur, sangai, hippo, Malabar giant squirrel, white tiger, Asiatic wolf, panther and bison. The zoo is among four in the country to have an ostrich. The park also undertakes cross-breeding as part of its conservation efforts. The park is also a participating zoo of the CZA for the captive breeding of rock python, Nilgiri langur, lion-tailed macaque, Asiatic lion, wild dog, Asiatic wolf, and gaur.