Kanpur Zoological Park, Zoological park and botanical garden in Kanpur, India
Kanpur Zoological Park, also called Allen Forest Zoo, covers 110 hectares of natural forest on the banks of the Ganga. Its open, moated enclosures line a semicircular 9 km arterial road around a rainwater lake, with a botanical garden, butterfly park and a full-size dinosaur skeleton model.
The park opened in February 1974 after mayor Ratanlal Sharma transformed an overgrown forest into a controlled sanctuary. During the early years the management acquired animals through exchange deals with foreign traders.
The zoo is named after Allen Forest, the wooded estate developed between 1913 and 1918 by George Berney Allen, a British industrialist in Kanpur, not a forest officer. The forest later became notorious as a hideout for gamblers and bootleggers before mayor Ratanlal Sharma proposed clearing it; forest minister Chaudhary Charan Singh instead suggested a zoo. The zoo opened on 4 February 1974, inaugurated by a child named Ashutosh.
The main entrance sits beside the road leading northwest from the city center, with paved paths for wheelchairs and prams around the lake. A visit usually takes two to three hours, with shaded stretches under tree canopies easing the midday heat.
The first animal at the zoo was an otter caught by fishermen in the Chambal River near Etawah and named Uday, after the Hindi word for otter. It was released into its enclosure on an auspicious date chosen by astrologers.
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