Plan Your Trivandrum Zoo Visit

Trivandrum Zoo is one of the oldest in India along with the Museum and Botanical Gardens. Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma, the ruler of Travancore from 1830–1846, envisioned the establishment of the Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Zoo. Initially, he had a broad variety collection of animals including elephants at his horse breeding centre. He also kept tigers, panthers, cheetahs, deer, bears, and a lioness. His brother, Uthram Thirunal Marthanda Varma and the British Resident General Cullen played important roles in founding the Napier Museum and Zoo in Thiruvananthapuram after he had left.

In 1855, a committee was formed with the Maharaja of Travancore as Patron, General Cullen as president and Mr. Allen Brown as Secretary resulting in the opening of the Museum to the public in September 1857. To attract more visitors, a Zoo and a park were established in 1859, initially designed for recreation.

Over time, the Zoo’s goal shifted from recreation to conservation due to increased forest and wildlife loss from human development. A modernization project initiated in 1995 aims to replace old enclosures with spacious naturalistic ones supported by the state government of Kerala with assistance from the Central Zoo Authority.

Trivandrum Zoo location

The geographical coordinates of Trivandrum Zoo are as follows:

• Latitude: 8° 30′ 42.23″ N
• Longitude: 76° 57′ 18.01″ E

These coordinates indicate the location of Trivandrum Zoo in the city of Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. The zoo is situated in the southern part of India near the southwestern coast and is positioned at approximately 8.5117 degrees North latitude and 76.9550 degrees East longitude.