The Rajiv Gandhi Zoological Park, commonly known as the Rajiv Gandhi Zoo, is located in Katraj near the city of Pune in India. It is managed by the Pune Municipal Corporation. The 165-acre (67 ha) zoo is divided into 3 parts: an animal orphanage, a snake park, and a zoo, and includes a 42-acre (17 ha) lake (Katraj lake).
The zoo has been open to the public since 1999, with more than 1.3 million visitors during 2007-2008. Earlier, the animals were located at Peshwe Park inside Pune city, while the Katraj facility was primarily a snake park. Slowly the snake park became a rescue center for wild animals. Eventually the zoo was moved to Katraj and the rescue center and snake park were isolated to offer privacy to rescued animals. Peshwe Park was eventually closed down as it did not meet the needs standards of the Central Zoo Authority of India (CZAI). This zoo has good collection of reptiles, mammals & some birds.
The zoo has had its own share of problems in recent past. Thousands of trees in the zoo have been hacked down in contravention to law. A very green forest like area is quite denuded. Then it was also criticized for its reckless handling of rescued Elephants Poornima and Lakshmi. Both were allegedly starved and then developed infection. The most unbelievable case was of 13 full grown peacocks being stolen from the zoo in one single night. The zoo contains mostly reptiles and mammals, and is divided into two major sections: one for reptiles and one for mammals.
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