India's oldest formally stated zoological park
The relation between man and animals dates back as far as prehistoric era. From that period animals were worshipped, domesticated, hunted and killed. The relationship between man and animal had led to development of what we called " Zoo ".
Egyptian rulers kept animals long back as 2500 BC. Chinese Emperor Wen Wang in 2000 BC established "Garden of Intelligence" in China wherein some common animals were kept. Likewise several Rulers, Emperors tried to develop their private collection of animals at several times.
The first Zoo which still exists, was developed in Schonbrun, Austria in 1759 by Emperor Francis I as a present for his wife " Maria Therasa ".
With the establishment of the Zoological Society of London in 1826, utility of zoos was realized but even then animals continued to be kept in cages. In 1907, Carl Hagenback developed the concept of barless moated enclosures and this concept of display of animals influenced the managers of zoos around the world. In place of smaller cages, spacious enclosures came into being that also helped in maintaining the biological and psychological need of the captive animals.
With the tremendous growth of human population and development of infrastructures like roads, buildings etc. as a support system of growing human population , exploitation of natural resources started leading to depletion of forests. As a consequence of such activities , animal populations day by day became fragmented leading to loss of genetic variability in animals and ultimately enter into extinction vortex.
Under the circumstances, the role of zoos was also dramatically changed. The menagerie of 19th Century developed into Zoological Parks in 20th Century and ultimately the same developed into conservation centres in 21st Century.
Over the period of time, justifications of establishing a zoo have changed from mere exhibitionishim, entertainment and amusement into research, education and ex-situ conservation specially to complement in-situ-conservation.
To provide future direction for modernization & upgradation of the Zoological Garden, Alipore to such extent that in spite of being one of the oldest Zoos of India , it can be at par with one of the best Zoos of the country. For that purpose the available resources, planned breeding, research etc. would be the essential tools keeping in mind the constraints, limitations and inherent challenges of an old Zoo.
It is intended to develop this zoo on modern lines in conformity with the National Zoo Policy, 1998 with the following objectives in mind:
i. Make Alipore Zoo a conservation breeding centre of prominence in India with focus on species of the region with special emphasis on wetland fauna.
ii. Make the zoo a centre for conservation and awareness for the visiting public, particularly the young ones, taking advantage of the large visitation of the metropolis and the surrounding region.
iii. To initiate and conduct the research on wildlife in captivity and to disseminate the results thereof to other captive animal facilities for conservation of animals in this wild.
The mission of the Zoological Garden, Alipore is "Conservation of wild animals from India and abroad with special reference to the wet land fauna and education & research for sustainable conservation of wild fauna which are under severe threat due to biotic interference".
Since establishment of the Zoological Garden, Alipore on 24th September, 1875, Zoo has passed through several phases. Initially, the citizens of Kolkata at that time came forward with generosity in the process of establishing the Zoo with financial help and they also donated animals from their collections to the zoo.
Then land development started and some animal houses were constructed to house animals. "Mullick House" is the first animal house constructed within the Zoo with the financial help of Raja Rajendra Mullick Bahadur, the first Indian donor.
The park was initially run by an honorary managing committee which included Schwendler and the famous botanist George King. The first Indian superintendent of the zoo was Ram Brahma Sanyal, who did much to improve the standing of the Alipore Zoo and achieved good captive breeding success in an era when such initiatives were rarely heard of. One such success story of the zoo was a live birth of the rare Sumatran Rhinoceros in 1889. The next pregnancy in captivity occurred at the Cincinnati Zoo in 1997, but ended with a miscarriage. Cincinnati Zoo finally recorded a live birth in 2001. Alipore Zoo was a pioneer among zoos in the 19th century and the early part of the 20th century under Sanyal, who published the first handbook on captive animal keeping. The zoo had an unusually high scientific standard for its time, and the record of the Cladotaenia genus (Cohn, 1901) of parasites are based upon cestodes (flatworm) found in an Australian bird that died at the zoo.
Fowls and pheasants were kept within this house and they started to breed as early as in February,1876. Followed by Mullick House, Burdwan House presently known as open air moated enclosure for lions, was constructed at a cost of Rs.35,000/-, the entire amount of which was donated by the Maharaja of Burdwan. Gradually other animal houses / enclosures came into being and named after their donors.
After the establishment of Central Zoo Authority in India in the year 1992, open air moated enclosures for primates, white tiger, Indian elephants , Indian lions and mugger, gharial & salt water crocodile were constructed with the financial help of Central Zoo Authority. During this period, remodelling of open air moated enclosure for hippopotamus was also carried out with the financial assistance of Government of West Bengal.
Since shifting of management of the Zoological Garden, Alipore from the Management Committee to the West Bengal Zoo Authority in the month of August, 2009, several developmental activities started at the Zoo and because of those activities face of the zoo changed enormously. Several outlived animal house like "Echidna House", "Balaram House" , "Kiosk House", "Jungle Fowl Enclosure", "Cat Cage", "Leanto Shed" etc. were demolished.
Kolkata 700 027, West Bengal, India