Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahalay

Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahalay
22°42′07″N75°52′48″E / 22.702°N 75.880°E / 22.702; 75.880
Date opened	1974 [1]
Location	AB Road, Navlakha, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
Land area	51.975 Acres
No. of species	57 [2]
Major exhibits	Snake House, Mirror House, Children Park, Museum, Butterfly Park
Website	knpsi.in

Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahalaya or Indore Zoo is a zoological garden located in Navlakha, Indore is managed by Indore Municipal Corporation. Indore zoo is the only zoo to deploy online booking (https://knpsi.in), animal-health app, and touchless entry system that is tightly integrated with e-Nagarpalika, making it the most advanced zoo of India.

This is the largest zoological garden of the state and one of the oldest zoological parks of Madhya Pradesh spread over an area of 210335 sq m.

Kamla Nehru Prani Sangrahlaya is one of the recognized zoos out of total 180 recognized zoos in India. The zoo has different varieties of animals and birds which have been brought from different parts of world. The zoo's attempts to breed White tigers, Royal Bengal tigers, Gharial, Himalayan bear and white peacock have been successful. Indore zoo is also a center for reproduction, protection and exhibition of animals, plants and their habitats. ^{[3] [4] [5]}

History

In 1974 the Indore zoo was established in Navlakha area in only 17 acres land, later on in the year 1999 adjoining 32 acres land of Quadibag was "Acquired" by the zoo so present area of Indore zoo is 51 acres. The total area of Indore zoo is full of greenery where different variety of trees and other plants gives natural feeling of forest to the wild animals.

Fauna

At present, Indore Zoo contains a variety of reptiles, mammals and birds. Herbivores mammal includes Indian elephant, hippopotamus, blackbuck, nilgai, spotted deer, sambar deer, and chinkara.

Carnivorans at the zoo include the Bengal tiger, Asiatic lion, Indian leopard, striped hyena, jungle cat, Indian wolf, golden jackal, Asian palm civet, raccoon, sloth bear and the Bengal fox.

Other species of mammals include the squirrel monkey,^{[ specify ]} Hanuman langur,^{[ specify ]} Rhesus macaque, hedgehog,^{[ specify ]} and the Indian crested porcupine.

Mugger Crocodile at Indore Zoo

Egyptian Vulture at Indore Zoo

Indore Zoo has a variety of birds like peacock, white peacock, sarus crane, Lady Amherst's pheasant, Egyptian vulture, various species of lovebird, larger ratites like the emu and South African ostrich, barn owl, turkey,^{[ specify ]} duck,^{[ specify ]} helmeted guineafowl, rosy pelican, various species of parakeet, painted stork, black swan and mute swan.

Indore Zoo also houses mugger and gharial crocodiles which are native to Indian Subcontinent.

Indian Leopard at Indore Zoo

Snake House

To boost the number of visitors, Indore Zoo has opened Snake House in November 2019. The idea behind constructing a separate snake house was to provide visitors an opportunity to see and differentiate among various species of snakes under one roof.

Presently there are variety of snakes. Venomous snakes include the member of "big four" (Indian Krait, Russell's Viper, Saw-scaled Viper and Indian Cobra) with Banded Krait, Bamboo Pit viper and Common vine snake.

Non-venomous snakes include Asian rat snake, checkered keelback and banded racer.

Red sand boas, Indian rock pythons, Burmese and reticulated pythons are some of the species of larger, constricting snakes at Indore Zoo.

India's First Smart Zoo

In 2017, Indore Zoo became the first smart zoo of India. Tourists could receive interesting facts about animals and birds when they came near them. Tourists were to install a free app named Accio – which showed interesting information about the animals. This made tourists appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of each and every animal, resulting in more immersive experience. Bluetooth and IoT technologies were used to make this happen. The project was launched in collaboration with a startup launched by 2 IIT Indore Computer Science Graduates, Shikhar Bansal and Ravi Shankar Bharti.

References

1. http://www.indorezoo.com/History.aspx ^{[ dead link ‍]}
2. http://www.indorezoo.com/AnimalGallery.aspx?page=4 ^{[ dead link ‍]}
3. Bear in Indore zoo euthanised
4. Bear in Indore zoo euthanised
5. STANDALONE: Bitch feeding a tiger cub at Indore zoo