Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park is located in Tirupati,

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

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History

It was established on 29 September 1987, and covers an area of . it is the largest zoological park in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. The main features of the Zoo Park are: * Mayuravani - The house for

peafowl Peafowl is a common name for two bird species of the genus '' Pavo'' and one species of the closely related genus '' Afropavo'' within the tribe Pavonini of the family Phasianidae (the pheasants and their allies). Male peafowl are referred t ...

* Mrugavani - The house for

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

s * Vrukavihar - Living place for smaller

carnivore A carnivore , or meat-eater (Latin, ''caro'', genitive ''carnis'', meaning meat or "flesh" and ''vorare'' meaning "to devour"), is an animal or plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they ar ...

s along with parakeets, mainas,

duck Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family (biology), family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and goose, geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfam ...

s, geese and a variety of other birds like flamingoes,

swan Swans are birds of the genus ''Cygnus'' within the family Anatidae. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe (biology) ...

pelican Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before ...

s and raptors. The zoo had an exceptionally heavy

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant cat species in the genus ''Panthera''. It has a pale yellowish to dark golden fur with dark spots grouped in rosettes. Its body is slender and muscular reaching a length of with a ...

called 'Balaji', which weighed against the normal weight of of its class. Balaji was captured at the age of 12 in 1996, when he weighed . The

ate of beef daily, the same as the other leopards in the zoo. The park's management was said to be in touch with the

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

authorities seeking its entry in the records as the biggest leopard. Due to an illness and old age, it died at the age of 27 on 11 June 2013.

References

External links

Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park Tirupati
(

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SV Zoo Park - Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park - Tirupati - A.P - Places to Visit in Tirupathi
{{Zoos of India Tirupati Tirupati district Zoos established in 1987 Zoos in Andhra Pradesh 1987 establishments in Andhra Pradesh Geography of Tirupati district Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams Buildings and structures in Tirupati