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Barrier Designs for Zoos - ZooLex Zoo Design Organization

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3<br />

CENTRAL ZOO AUTHORITY<br />

in Barrakpore in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1801 as a part of Natural History Project and continued<br />

till 1978, when remaining animals were transferred to Alipore zoo. This was followed by a private zoo<br />

called Marble Palace <strong>Zoo</strong> in Kolkata which is still functioning.<br />

Peoples Park, Madras, (now Chennai) was established in 1855. This park no more exists and a new zoo<br />

at Vandalur has come up in 1985 in its place. Major zoos at Mumbai, Thiruvanthapuram and Lucknow<br />

come up in the later part of 19 th century and prior to independence. Many zoos like Junagarh, Jaipur,<br />

Hyderabad (Old), Udaipur, Thanjavur, Vadodara, Mysore, Gwalior and Bikaner and Jodhpur were<br />

established by erstwhile rulers during this period. Though ef<strong>for</strong>t was made by some of those zoos to<br />

provide large and even moated enclosures, most of the animals were confined to cage like heavy steel<br />

structures, with minimal or no attention <strong>for</strong> providing naturalistic environment.<br />

The role of zoos as repository of wildlife<br />

and centres <strong>for</strong> conservation awareness<br />

was realized by Government of India<br />

soon after independence and an open<br />

moated zoo was established in Delhi in<br />

1959. State Governments also followed<br />

suit, and several well planned zoos<br />

covering extensive areas were set up in<br />

many big cities. Such zoos constructed<br />

naturalistic enclosures with moats (dry<br />

and wet) as barriers <strong>for</strong> exhibiting<br />

animals <strong>for</strong> example the Ariganar Anna<br />

<strong>Zoo</strong>logical Park, Vandalur, Chennai<br />

and Indira Gandhi <strong>Zoo</strong>logical Park,<br />

Open moated enclosure <strong>for</strong> elephants at Indira Gandhi<br />

Vishakhapatnam. However, even today<br />

<strong>Zoo</strong>logical Park, Vishakhapatnam<br />

zoos with space constraint such as the<br />

Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahalaya, Indore, V.O.C. Park <strong>Zoo</strong>, Coimbatore, Lucknow <strong>Zoo</strong>, State Museum<br />

& <strong>Zoo</strong>, Thrissur and many others, cannot provide large moated enclosures and other solutions have<br />

to be used.<br />

However, to meet the recreation needs of the people a large number of menageries and mini zoos<br />

were also established wherein little attention was paid to the well being of the animals and their<br />

management on scientific lines. The decades of 1970s and 1980s witnessed manifold increase in the<br />

number of such establishments which at the time were thought to be appropriate but now they are<br />

need of major changes.

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