Zoos and Gardens in Darjeeling

The natural beauty of Darjeeling is all that you need for a perfect vacation. Darjeeling is a home to many unique flora and fauna that are conserved in zoological parks and gardens. Most of the part in Darjeeling is covered with lush green forests and is a safe place for biodiversity.

• Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park: One of the oldest and the largest high altitude zoos in India. It is famous for its captive breeding programs. The zoo includes an off-display breeding center for snow leopards and red pandas. The zoo is famous for its conservation breeding programs of the red panda, Himalayan salamander, Tibetan wolf, and snow leopard.

• Lloyd botanical garden: Established in 1878 as a distant annex of Calcutta botanical Garden. This Garden is one of the main attractions to the visitors to Darjeeling with a treasury of many rare and beautiful plants as well as patches of typical forest of tall Cryptomeria, Buckland and Altus with thick mass of lianas and shrubby undergrowth. It is also a paradise to the students and research workers in Botany and an eminent institution distributing the plants and seeds and specimens of temperate and sub-temperate Himalayas to different parts of the world.

• Rock garden: The garden has views of a hill stream cascading over rocks along the slope, done up with flower gardens and sitting spaces at different levels. There also is a small lake. With tourists pouring in large numbers, tea shops and snack kiosks have come up. It is also a multi-level picnic ground terraced around a natural waterfall, its attraction is in it "being a sort of road-side facility but with a little too much concrete."

• Ganga maya park: Established just 3 km away from the rock garden. "it meanders down the course of a chortling mountain stream, past gazebos, clumps of flowering shrubs and trees, over humped backed bridges under which koi-carp coruscate, and into a circular lake with paddle boats and a waterfall." It has a small lake where boating facilities are available. Gorkha folk dances are performed to entertain the tourists.

• Shrubbery nightingale park: It is situated in the Richmond hill area of Darjeeling. It is a small public park. The Glass house inside has a lovely collection of flowering plants. Visitors can witness a giant statue of Lord Shiva, a musical fountain along with the great scenery. However, during the tourist season there are Nepali dance performances which tourists enjoy.

Also read: Religious shrines to visit in Darjeeling.