Hyderabad is a beautiful city with lots of energy and is blessed with many extravagant natural and man-made structures and places. One such place to be visited is the Nehru Zoological Park. The Nehru Zoological Park, which is located at approximately 16 kms from Hyderabad bus stand, was established on 26th October, 1959. The main idea of creating this zoological park was with an idea to help develop an environment for themodern zoo that is surrounded by nature-like environment. The zoological park is one of the biggest zoo in the country and spread widely with greenery for more than 300 acres. This zoo boasts of inhabiting more than 1500 rare and different species of animals and birds. Lion safari is the major attraction among the tourists and drags many tourists to this place every year.For those who visit this park to just get a glimpse of nature, it is highly recommended that they must go for the Lion safari as well. Apart from the animals, the park also has a natural history museum and a children’s park, which is also equally enjoyed by the tourists. As this place is not too far from Hyderabad, most tourist throng to this place for picnics from the cities of Secunderabad and Hyderabad.

History

Nehru Zoological Park was established in Hyderabad on 26th October, 1959 and was opened for general public on 6thOctober, 1963. The Forest department of the Government of Andhra Pradesh takes care of the overall running of the zoological park. This park was named after Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India.

Animals

Nehru Zoological Park is spread over 380 acres and close to the Mir Alam Tank, that is around 600acres wide. There are more than 100 species of animals, birds and reptiles that are found here that includes rare indigenous animals like the Asiatic lion,Indian Rhino,Panther,Tiger, Orangutan, Gaur, Python, Crocodile, deer, antelopes, kangaroos and many species of birds.
The animals and birds that are placed in the park are provided with natural surroundings to make them feel close to the nature. The landscape of the zoo is set up in the midst of nature, which makes one feel that the animals are living in their natural habitat. Mir Alam Tank, which is a 200 year old arched embankment spread across 600acres attracts thousands of species of migratory birds that adds to the attraction of the zoo. The tourists can also enjoy the ferries and speed boat journeys that are installed by the Andhra Pradesh Tourism development corporation.

The zoo facility has built an in house ‘nocturnal house’inside the zoo which artificially reverses night and day timings for the nocturnal animals to make them most active while tourists visit the zoo. The exhibit has slender loris, fruit bats, civets, slow loris,hedgehogs, leopard cats, mottled wood owls, barn owls,great horned owls and fishing owls.

Another added attraction to the zoo is the lion safari. Tourists can visit the safari parks in special vehicles. Through this safari, the visitors get an opportunity to see wild animals like lions, tigers, bison and bears sustaining in their natural habitat.Some rare animals can also be spotted in these natural environment such as Lions, White tigers, Tigers, Leopards, Panthers, Rhino, Cheetah, Sea Horse, Hippopotamus, Bears, Giraffe, Python, Crocodile, Peacocks, Deer and Antelopes. As some of the animals are transferred from time to time to other zoo and sanctuaries, the visitors would be able to see a huge variety of animals from time to time.

Location

Address: On Bangalore-Hyderabad highway, Bahadurpura, Hyderabad - 500264

Location: 16 km. from Hyderabad

Contact Information: Telephone: 2447-7355, Fax: 2447-3253

Visit timing

April to June: 8.00 AM to 5.30 PM
July to March: 8.30 AM to 5.00 PM
Open every day (Except Monday)

Ticket charges

Entrance ticket for Zoo will be:

Other charges

Photography

Amateur Photography Camera: Rs. 20
Professional Photography Camera: Rs. 500
Amateur Video Camera: Rs. 100
Professional Video Camera: Rs. 500
Film Shootingwith ‘U’matic Video/Cine Camera: Rs. 8500 per location, Rs. 1500 Generator Fee

How to reach Hyderabad Nehru Zoological Park

Nehru Zoological Park is situated on the south-west corner of Hyderabad city next to the Mir Alam Tank. The tourists can reach Hyderabad either by air,by road or by train. To reach Nehru Zoological Park, the tourists need to board a bus from Bahadurpurawhich passes through Charminar. They can also hire a taxi or auto-rickshawfor reaching Nehru Zoological Park. The bus fare and taxi fare from secunderabadfor each person would be:

1.Rs 40/- for special bus.
2.Taxi fare is generally between Rs 12-15/Km

Precautions to be taken in zoo