The Islamabad Zoo cum Botanical Garden is a large

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

and

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

located in

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

, Pakistan. The concept of establishing the Zoo-Botanical Garden combination was integrated into Islamabad's Master Plan back in 1968. This facility holds the distinction of being the most expansive joint zoo and botanical garden in Pakistan.

History

In 1989, an expanse of 725 acres of land located in the Bani Galla region, spanning across four designated areas ( Mohra Noor, Phulgran, Atthal, and Mallot) within

, was designated for the use of the Zoological Survey of Pakistan. This allocation was made in accordance with an agreement, and the Zoological Survey of Pakistan was granted physical possession of the land by the Capital Development Authority. Following a directive from the Chief Executive Secretariat in 2002, a comprehensive process to accurately demarcate the aforementioned land was set in motion. As part of this process, the Survey of Pakistan undertook the task of erecting a total of 160 boundary markers to define the limits of the 725-acre land parcel.

Controversies

In 2019, the Auditor General of Pakistan (AGP) has initiated an investigation into the Ministry of Climate Change's inability to create a botanical garden, despite having been granted ownership of 583 acres of land for this purpose nearly two decades ago. In May 2022,

satellite imagery Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell im ...

unveiled a substantial area of the safeguarded Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden adjacent to

Bhara Kahu Barakahu is a town located 13 Kilometer (km) east of downtown Islamabad in the Islamabad Capital Territory . It consists of 23 union councils, comprising 133 villages, while the urban has 27 union councils. The name 'Barakahu' (بارا کہو) c ...

had been illicitly seized by private developers. The available information indicates that these private builders took down pillars originally set up for constructing residential buildings, evidently driven by financial motives. As the government had previously erected a total of one hundred and sixty boundary pillars with the intention of safeguarding the 725-acre expanse of the Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden.

References

{{coord missing, Pakistan Zoos in Pakistan Botanical gardens in Pakistan Tourist attractions in Islamabad Protected areas of Pakistan