Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden, Zoo and botanical garden in Guwahati, India.
Assam State Zoo cum Botanical Garden is a zoological and botanical facility in Guwahati spreading across 175 hectares within Hengerabari Reserve Forest. The site presents animals from the region and other parts of the world in enclosures surrounded by thick vegetation.
The zoo grew out of the 64th session of the Indian National Congress held in Guwahati in 1957, where the organising committee exhibited animals and birds; a female leopard cub named Spotty was the favourite. The animals were moved to Japorigog in the Hengrabari Reserve Forest, 130 hectares, and the zoo was established in 1957 and opened to the public in 1958. A forest division was created in 1959, a botanical garden added in 1982, and 45 hectares more in 2002 brought the total to 175 hectares.
The zoo's name marks its 1982 merger with a botanical garden, when the animal park added plant collections. The female leopard cub Spotty, star of the 1957 Congress exhibit, is the founding anecdote told about the collection. An Animal Adoption Scheme launched in August 2005 lets visitors sponsor individual animals.
The grounds are divided into separate areas for mammals, birds, and reptiles, with paved paths leading through both parts of the facility. Visitors should wear comfortable shoes as distances between enclosures can be long.
The layout follows the principles of the Whipsnade facility in London, where animals live in settings resembling their natural habitats. This approach was still uncommon in India at the time of foundation.
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