Sakkarbaug Zoological Park, Junagadh in Gujarat

Monday, October 16, 2017

Sakkarbaug Zoological Park, Junagadh aka Sakkarbaug Zoo aka Junagadh Zoo is located around 8 KM away from the city of Junagadh. It was established in 1863 by the Babi Nawabs. It is located very close to the Gir forest.

Sakkarbaug Zoological Park

It is tagged on google maps,  after visiting Baba Pyare Caves near Uparkot Fort, we boarded a rickshaw to visit it. it cost us Rs.60. We paid Rs.40 for two to visit the zoo.

Now I have been to the Byculla Zoo in Mumbai, but this was nothing like it. I was amazed to see the different varieties of birds, animals and reptiles it housed. For a moment I decided to stop clicking photos and enjoying the zoo like a kid.  Fathima and me hung around each and every cage to get a good view of the birds. Have to admit, but the bird section was the nosiest. Each of the birds were chirping, I guess they were trying to communicate with themselves. That language was alien to us. Hehehe.

Birds in Cages at Sakkarbaug Zoological Park

We then headed to see the snakes, the snakes were kept in glass encloses and not cages else they would have been all over the place. The snake skin was so beautiful. That's all I have to say.

Next were the crocodile, there were so many of them, It looked like they were playing the game "statue" where in one acts like a statue. They were hardly moving.  Sadly there were no dare devils around us, else we could have seen the crocs in action. Just Kidding.

Next we paid a visit to the Deer and its extended family. We saw the Antelope, Chinkara, Blackbuck and the Blue Bull. They were quite happy in their enclosure. The way we looked at them, they too looked similarly at us. Like we were trying to make some kind of contact. But we just couldn't. Had Dr. Dolittle been there he would have surely communicated with the animals. Hehehe. 

I was amazed when I saw the lions and tigers, I have never seen them so close. they were huge and resting. I guess they had their lunch and were trying to get some sleep, and there were we and some more people who wanted them to pose for us in our photos. They didn't bother looking at us either. There is a stuffed toy tiger kept outside the cage, it was as huge as the ones within, it was kept so that people could pose with them and then narrate tales of how they managed to take a selfie with the tiger.

Tiger in Sakkarbaug Zoological Park

Eating and drinking within the zoo premises is not allowed. Feeding the animals is strictly prohibited. There are restrooms within the premises to freshen up.

Outside the Zoo premises, there are plenty of options for food and drinks (no hard drinks) We had a finger licking pav bhaji at a cost of Rs.60 bang opposite the Zoo entrance.

Pav Bhaji, we had outside the Sakkarbaug Zoological Park

We had visited Uparkot Fort and the Sakkarbaug Zoological Park, Junagadh and we were tired, so we decided to head back to the hotel. We decided to visit the Narsinh Mehta Lake in the evening. 


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