Fast Facts :
Place : Patna, Bihar state, India.
Coverage area : 152.95 acres.
Established in year : 1973.
Total species : Trees (300 species), Fish (35 species), Animals (80 species), and Snakes (5 species).
Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan is simply known as ‘Sanjay Gandhi Botanical and Zoological Garden’. This famous Patna zoo is situated close to the Bailey Road in the district of Patna. The park was initially opened as a public zoo in the year 1973, and ranked as one of the most popular park among the other sixteen parks in this country. Originally, in the year 1969, the national park was started first as a Botanical Garden. Later on, the Governor of Bihar, known as Sri Nityanand Kanungo offered a mass piece of land around thirty four acres from Governor House to fill the garden. After a few years, in the year 1972, the Public Works provided another 58.2 acres of land and even the Revenue Department also removed 60.75 acres to Forest Department just to expand this national park of Bihar. In the year 1973, the Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan was considered as Biological Park, with a combination of zoo and botanical garden. The land that was acquired from the Revenue Department and the Public Works was stated as Protected Forest on 8th March 1983 by State Government. This park is the most visited place by the tourist in the region of Patna. Visitors hail here from far away places where they can get to learn about the nature and the wildlife.
There are a number of attractions that attracts the visitors at this place. While wandering in the zoo you can spot various animals and other species that come across your way. This park is divided into different sections including ‘Saamp Ghar’ (Snake house) and ‘Machhali Ghar’ (Fish Aquarium), which are most famous among tourists. Apart from the wild animals you can also spot some of the other species that reside here. The most common sound you can hear here is the chirping or twitting of two wings birds. They are mostly marked on small steep hills that are covered with dense forest. It is quite a fun for visitors including adults and children when they come here for vacationing. For children, the main attraction is the Toy Train that rides within the forest, boating in the cool lakes, and elephant ride to observe the animals closely. Since the atmosphere is cool and filled with greenery, therefore, it is a famous place for people to spend a quite and relaxing time here. It is one of the perfect places to explore in the Patna district, if you are planning a day trip. If you visit this place early in the morning, you can see local people are having their morning walk by inhaling fresh oxygen. Visitors indulge in exercise, yoga, and other activities which make their mind refreshing and energetic.
If you walk in the forest you can spot several animals wandering here and there. The Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan of Patna preserves many wild animals around eight hundred of over one hundred and ten species. the most common animals that visitors can come across are the white peacock, emu, zebra, giraffe, Indian rhinoceros, python, gharial, hill myna, peafowl, spotted deer, black bucks, jackal, Himalayan black bear, elephants, crocodile, leopard, hippopotamus, clouded leopard, monkeys, and tiger. All the animal species reside within in the national park (zoo) where visitors can capture in your camera for memory and also learn about the wildlife.
For biological and zoological researchers, the Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan is a perfect place to experiment their research. This park preserves not only several animal species but it also encloses majority in vegetations. Around a major part of the zoo is covered with dense forest where different species of trees are encompassed. This park contains around three hundred tree species including shrubs and herbs. There is also a small nursery where medical plants are grown and exhibited including rose garden, glass house, fern house, and orchid house. Therefore, this park is popular not only in other states in India, but it is also famous in the international level where tourists hail from different countries.
Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan of Patna is well renowned for its population of rhinoceroses, where initially they were two and now it holds around eleven baby rhinos. Therefore, this botanical and zoological garden is positioned at the second place after the San Diego Zoo in California. While seeing all the animals and tree species, finally you will come across to the most famous attraction that is the aquarium. For making this unique aquarium a large amount of revenue was added after the common admission fee. The fish house preserves over thirty five fish of different species that adds more charm to this park. Small children and even adults appeal more to the aquarium where they can get knowledge of different type of fishes and how they should be looked after. Another major attraction of the Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan is the Saamp Ghar which is simply known as a snake house. There are around thirty two snakes of five different species. They are rare and endangered so they are kept in glass house for precaution to harm any visitor.
Few years back, this public zoo has got a lot of success which made it the most famous and visited place of Patna. Recently, the density of rhinoceros started to decline due to the global warming, which made a big loss for this park. The rhinos are considered to be the most rare and endangered species that belongs under the category of Schedule I. Today, in the world, there are very few national parks or wildlife sanctuaries that preserve the species of rhinos. Compared to the elephant species, the rhinoceroses are the largest land animal species which weight around one thousand and eight hundred to three thousand and six hundred kilogram. Visitors who come to this park are pleased with delight by finding various creatures in massive amount in the Sanjay Gandhi Jaivik Udyan of Patna.
If you are planning to tour Patna in Bihar, make sure you take a trip for a day to this public zoo, where you can experience some thrill and wildlife in your vacation. This park also offers a cafeteria for voyagers where they can relax and fill their stomach with tasty delicacies and refreshment beverages. A warning note for tourist, while straying in the forest make sure you avoid carrying foods since there are few animals that can pounce on you for food, example monkeys, elephants. This public zoo will help you to make your moments into remarkable memories after coming here.