Zoological Garden, Alipore
The Zoological Garden, Alipore is India's oldest formally stated zoological park and a big tourist attraction in Kolkata, West Bengal. It has been open as a zoo since 1876, and covers 18.811 ha. It is probably best known as the home of the Aldabra giant tortoise Adwaita, who was reputed to have been over 250 years old when he died in 2006. It is also home to one of the few captive breeding projects involving the Manipur brow-antlered deer. One of the most popular tourist attractions in Kolkata, it draws huge crowds during the winter season, especially during December and January. The highest attendance till date was on January 1, 2018 with 110,000 visitors.
Official logo of the zoo
A white tiger in Alipur zoo Kolkata
Memorial to Carl Schwendler
Ram Brahma Sanyal, the first superintendent of the zoo.
The Aldabra giant tortoise is a species of tortoise in the family Testudinidae. The species is endemic to the Seychelles, with the nominate subspecies, A. g. gigantea native to Aldabra atoll. It is one of the largest tortoises in the world. Historically, giant tortoises were found on many of the western Indian Ocean islands, as well as Madagascar, and the fossil record indicates giant tortoises once occurred on every continent and many islands with the exception of Australia and Antarctica.
Aldabra giant tortoise
A skeleton of Aldabra giant tortoise found on Cousin Island (Seychelles)
An isolated population resides on Changuu island in Zanzibar
A giant tortoise browsing leaves