TripsGuru - India Travel & Tourism

The first public aquarium was opened in London Zoo in 1853. This was followed by the opening of public aquaria in Europe (for example, Paris 1859, Hamburg 1864, Berlin 1869, Brighton 1872) and the United States (Boston 1859, Washington 1873, San Francisco Woodward's Garden 1873, New York Battery Park 1896). In 2005 the non-profit Georgia Aquarium with more than 8 million US gallons (30,000 m³; 30,000,000 litres) of marine and fresh water, and more than 100,000 animals of 500 different species opened in Atlanta, Georgia. The aquarium's specimens include whale sharks and beluga whales.

Animal theme parks

An animal theme park is a combination of an amusement park and a zoo, mainly for entertaining and commercial purposes. Marine mammal parks such as Sea World and Marineland are more elaborate dolphinariums keeping whale species and containing additional entertainment attractions. Another kind of animal theme park contains more entertainment and amusement elements than the classical zoo, such as a stage shows, roller coasters, and mythical creatures. Some examples are Busch Gardens Africa in Tampa, Florida and Disney's Animal Kingdom in Orlando, Florida.

Wild animal parks

Wild animal parks are larger than the classical zoo. The first of this new kind of animal park was Whipsnade Park which opened in 1931 in Bedfordshire, England. This park, owned by the Zoological Society of London, covers 600 acres (2.4 km²) and is still one of Europe's largest wildlife conservation parks where animals are kept within sizeable enclosures. Since the early 1970s a 1,800-acre parcel (7 km²) in the San Pasqual Valley near San Diego also accommodates a remarkable zoo, the San Diego Wild Animal Park that is run by the Zoological Society of San Diego. Another zoo comparable to these wild animal parks is the Werribee Open Range Zoo in Melbourne, Australia, focusing on displaying animals living in a wide open savannah. This 500-acre zoo is managed by the Zoological Parks and Gardens Board which also manages Melbourne Zoo. One of only 2 American state supported zoo parks is the 535-acre North Carolina Zoo located in Asheboro, North Carolina.

Calcutta's interesting zoo-the oldest in India-was the creation of Sir Richard Carnac Temple who was Governor of Bengal from 1874 to 1877. It was opened on Jan 1st 1876, by the Prince of Wales. The 16 hectare grounds house a wide species of animals & birds including the rare white Bengal Tiger. There is a separate reptile house and a children's zoo. Migratory birds find sanctuary on a medium lake in the zoo every winter. The gardens are open from 6 a.m. To 5 p.m. daily.

The Zoological Gardens at Alipore opened to the public in 1876, have one of the finest collections of birds, animals, and reptiles. Within the Gardens, there is also a childrens' Zoo. The aquarium in front of the Zoological Gardens contains sea-fishes of rare varieties.