Trivandrum Zoo: A must visit in the city

The identity of Kerala today comes from the lineage of the Travancore rule as the state emblem & state constitution are all a continuation based on the beliefs of the erstwhile kingdom. It is also known that most of the institutions, monuments, establishments of the Travancore kingdom are the most well maintained & preserved in Kerala. The Travancore kings believed in the well being of its people not just in terms of wealth but also improved social & cultural status. One such establishment which catered to the social upliftment is the Trivandrum Zoo which is inside the large Museum complex. The zoo started as a simple enclosure and became the oldest zoo in the country & one that keeps its inmates in its natural habitat.

Swati Thirunal Rama Varma, took the throne of the Travancore Kingdom from his aunt in the year 1829 & initiated a rule for close to 2 decades which is termed as the golden era of the kingdom. Swati Thirunal was a great music composer & a patron himself but he was also a keen administrator and he is credited to have modernised the kingdom by starting many of the institutions that still stand strong today. He was of the opinion that the prosperity of the kingdom is based on the wellbeing of his subjects & it was necessary to provide them all the necessary amenities. This thought was behind the starting of a museum which would help people to know & see items from history. The British gave great importance to the Travancore rulers & partnered in all the new development plans as they had an eye on the taxes that such institutions would bring to the empire. 

Swati Thirunal was a good collector of old artefacts, gifts, documents, his musical  instruments, exotic & wild animals. It is a known fact that the King had a menagerie where he had a large collection of wild animals, some captured, some brought as a passion & some for veterinarian help. Swati Thirunal liked to exhibit these animals to foreign delegates & many loved seeing animals from different parts of the world. Swati Thirunal realised that his collection should also be seen by the local population & so the idea of a museum came about. The British resident General Cullen agreed to this plan & was given the responsibility to build a place for the museum. The work for the museum could not start as Swati Thirunal soon died, the untimely death of the most loved king resulted in stalling of all projects. It was only when Uthram Thirunal, brother of Swati Thirunal who took the throne was appraised by General Cullen about this idea that the work of the museum started. In 1855 a committee under the patronage of the King with General Cullen as president was constituted to start work on the museum & the most beautiful structure of Napier museum was thrown open for the general public in 1857. Initially items from the British museum, gifts received by the Travancore kings, palace items & stone edicts were displayed. The museum on its own could not attract a lot of people & Uthram THirunal realised the need to add another attraction, the zoo thus became a reality. 

To make a zoo, a large area had to be earmarked and so the whole area around the palace grounds was converted to open pasture & cages were brought to hold the animals. The zoo was opened to the public in 1859 along with a park around the museum. The Thiruvananthapuram Zoo thus became the first zoo of the country & is still open to the public today fulfilling the dream of Swathi Thirunal. The personal animal collection of the Travancore kingdom were the first animals to find a new home here. Post independence, the idea of the conservation of wildlife took precedence over exhibitions & so gradually the iron enclosures were taken out to create natural habitat for the animals. The largest modernisation project was taken up in 1995 where the idea of an open zoo became practical where animals are not in iron cages but the viewing gallery for people is separated by deep trenches. Over the years many new inmates were added to the zoo from different habitats. 

Today the zoo has expanded further adding lawns, large ponds, open field areas, additional tiers to accommodate a collection of diverse fauna. The zoo has a bird enclosure which has some of the most exotic birds, deer parks, large animals enclosures, a carnivorous section which has some of the most magnificent beings like Panther, Hyenas, Lion & tigers. The zoo also today has a section for reptiles where one can see snakes from different parts of the world. The zoo is well labelled for all to read about the animals which is important as it's not just a place to see, but also value our wildlife. The zoo thus is a place of education & recreation today.

The zoo even today attracts the maximum footfall in the complex & is open on all days except Monday. There is an entry ticket which the public will need to purchase to enter. Inside the zoo gates is the Raja Ravi Verma art Gallery which is a must visit as it exhibits all the famous paintings of the most celebrated artists of Kerala. The zoo today is disabled & senior citizen friendly so they can opt for battery operated vehicles to take them around the enclosures. It is indeed a beautiful place to visit for all who come to Trivandrum.