Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park and
Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling, West Bengal, India
Photo,
Pictures of, Images, Picture
(August 2011) |
The zoo is about a 30 minute walk from the Chowrasta. It costs 100 rupees for
foreigners, plus 10 rupees per camera.
Just like all things Darjeeling, picture this map spread out on a steep
hillside.
The aviary at the entrance house some friendly Macaws (non-native) along with
other sociable birds.
You can also visit the Himalayan Mountaineering Institute Museum or take
climbing lessons at the school. Tenzing Norgay used to teach here and the Museum
is full of interesting equipment he used on his original expeditions to Mount
Everest.
Red Pandas are ridiculously cute and fluffy, although this guy looked a little
mad.
The zoo has a successful breeding program for Red Pandas.
Getting to the big cat section requires a climb.
Tibetan Wolf, another animal species that gets bred at the zoo.
Sleepy doggies.
Even the path to the restrooms is mossy and pretty.
Monkey love. There's a guard on duty to keep people from harassing the monkeys.
Little Jungle Cats. I wonder if they purr.
Yaks with attached feather dusters. They're huge - much bigger than cows.
The animals are housed in fairly large cages. Some could be bigger, or at least
made with less cement.
Asiatic Black Bear. Threatened by habitat loss and hunted for its gall bladder
juices. For some reason, I just can't imagine looking at this animal and wanting
to drink from its gall bladder.
This one was a bit of a show off. Look at the size of that claw!
Nap time.
Blue sheep, or Bharal.
Small goat-like creature.
Royal Bengal Tiger, the national animal of India. This one was very active, due
to the female in the next cage flirting with him.
Tigers are so cool.
He has the largest cage in the zoo but it still seems cramped for such a big
animal.
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