Patan Central Zoo

City: Patan

Country: Nepal

Province: Lalitpur

Opened 1932 (for the public in 1956)

Species 105

Immediately in front of the zoo entrance is a circular fenced enclosure housing a pair of gharial. Working clockwise around the perimeter of the lake, we have some mammals enclosures with native deer and antelopes. These included native species such as chital or axis deer, barking deer, barasingha and blackbuck. The barking deer share their home with a pair of white-naped cranes. Moving on, a dark sleeping shape at the back of a clay-brick den I eventually identified as a striped hyena from the sign on the neighbouring unoccupied enclosure. Opposite and wrapping around one corner of the lake was a narrow, L-shaped enclosure housing a family of hippos. A fenced enclosure in the far corner was drawing a small crowd. It contained two peacocks, both in poor condition. Their neighbours, a trio of dark kites, were almost totally ignored, perhaps because these birds are so common in the skies over Kathmandu. On the other side of the peacocks was a pair of Himalayan monal. The primates near by are Hanuman langurs and Rhesus macaque. The Bengal tigers were housed in two separate enclosures side-by-side, with an elevated walkway providing views from one side. Opposite the tigers, another reasonably impressive enclosure housed a pair of Indian rhinos (which are of course found in Nepal too). The zoo also keeps Asian elephants. Now we look at some small carnivore cages with Leopards, Clouded Leopards and Asiatic Black Bears. Small cats (leopard cat and Asian fishing cat), jackals and nilgai round out the mammal collection. The majority of the bird collection is kept on the north side of the zoo in a collection of aviaries arranged around a parkland area. The pride of the bird collection is the pheasants, of which there are numerous kinds: Lady Amherst’s pheasant, golden pheasant, silver pheasant, chukar, kalij pheasant, satyr tragopan and more Himalayan monal. The highlight is a large, high, well-constructed aviary housing an eclectic variety of species: sulphur-crested cockatoos, spoonbills, Oriental pied hornbills, king vultures and black-necked storks amongst them. Also kept here were sarus cranes and lesser adjutants in pairs, and a female ostrich. The small reptile collection featured a common cobra, an Indian rock python and a nameless turtle. The fishes were displayed in several decent-sized tanks kept outside under a corrugated tin-roofed shelter.

The zoo is in Patan though it some time is called Kathmandu zoo and Jawalkhel zoo