Thiruvananthapuram Zoo, Varkala

History

Thiruvananthapuram Zoo is one of the oldest Zoo in India. Similarly the Museum and Botanical Gardens are also one of the oldest of their kind in the country. Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma,(1816-1846), illustrious King and Music composer who had ruled Travancore during 1830-1846 was the visionary behind the establishment of the Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo,He had a good collection of animals including elephants in his horse breeding centre. To the Trivandrum stables he incorporated a menagerie and kept tigers, panthers cheetahs, deer, bears and a lioness there. It was however left to his brother Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma and the then British Resident General Cullen which resulted in the establishment of Napier Museum and Zoo in Thiruvananthapuram. A committee was formed in 1855 with the Maharaja of Travancore as Patron, General Cullen as President, The Elaya Raja as Vice President and Mr. Allen Brown as Secretary of the Committee and the Director of Museum. The Museum was thrown open to the Public in September 1857. But the Museum by itself could not attract the people much, and therefore a Zoo and a park were started in 1859.The zoo was originally built with the typical iron-barred cages prevalent at the time, and was designed for recreational purposes, but with increased loss of forest and wildlife due to human development, the goal of the Zoo has changed from recreation to conservation. A modernization project started in 1995, aims to gradually replace the old enclosures with spacious naturalistic enclosures. The state government of Kerala is undertaking this renovation with financial and technical help from the Central Zoo Authority.