AMAZING TRIP TO THE NATURE AT ZOLOGICAL PARK

The park is known as Arignar Anna Zoological Park which is one of the largest zoos in South East Asia sprawling over an area of 602 hectares. Tourists have to spend a day ifthey want to discover all the interesting place.

After about an hour on the train and an auto car, I reached my destination in suburb of Chennai. It’s a little bit far away from the college but it was really worth waiting. I was surprise when the first time in my life I have seen a large zoo like that. Aringar Anna Zoological Park or more commonly known as Vandalur Zoo was opened in 1985 under a name of Madras Zoo. The zoo began with an entire animal collection of Edward Green Balfour, the then director of the Government Museum at Madras. By 1975, the zoo could no longer expand, and it had to be moved out of the city because of space constraints and increased noise pollution due to the city's high-density traffic.  In 1976, Tamil Nadu Forest Department set aside 512 ha in the Vandalur Reserve Forest on the outskirts of the city to build the current zoo, which is the largest zoological garden in India and Indian Subcontinent and one of the largest in the world. Work started in 1979 at an initial cost of Rs.75 million, and the zoo in its new premises was officially opened to public on 24 July 1985 by the then chief minister of  Tamil Nadu Mr. M.G. Ramachandran, when most of the works were completed. In 2001, 92.45 hectares of land next to the park was acquired to build a rescue and rehabilitation centre for confiscated and abandoned wild animals, increasing the park's size to 602 hectares. That’s current area of the Park.

I bought a ticket of Rs. 30 – very cheap for a whole day in the park. To go around hundreds – hectare place, I ate some food in a restaurant inside. The food was too cost and not delicious but it didn’t mind me anyway. There are two ways to explore this place: By Zoo operated Vehicle, by bicycle (available for hire within the park) and by foot.The zoo operated vehicles take you on a ride of the zoo stopping at designated points where you can alight take a look around the various enclosures and the board the vehicle for the next point. This is a good option if you are traveling with kids and elders. The bicycles which are available for hire inside the park are well maintained and are a good option if you are fit enough. They also have Tandem bicycles for the romantic at heart. The third option is to walk which might be quite tiring on a hot day. I decided to take a bicycle and rode around. The price for an hour renting a bicycle is Rs. 10.

          The Park is not only the best place to hide the stress but also an excellent natural class for children. A park on a hill with fresh air and green area will make you forget all the tired behind and enjoin the nature. In more 600 hectares, the Zoo houses 2,553 species of flora and fauna across. 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, 25 species of fishes, and 10 species of insects. All kinds of animals have their own separate area of living. Children come to the park can see a lot of animals living in the nature not in television or newspapers any more. This is a special class to teach them about the nature, animals and build up their love in nature.

a

   The place I love most is a house of Royal Bengal tiger. I have heard and seen the National Animal of India in the internet however this is the first time I saw it face to face. I was so excited.

          My journey in the one of the biggest parks in Southeast Asia was a wonderful experience excepted that I forgot my purse in rental park bicycle shop. I had to come back and luckily it was still there.