Indian elephants and Bengal tigers, included in the IUCN Red List, the world's largest sharks, and unusual gharials, royal beauties Indian cobras and their worst enemies – mongooses, as well as sacred animals – monkeys ...

India's fauna is so vibrant and diverse that you should definitely add one of its fantastic zoos to your plan when you travel around this amazing country.

The history of the first Indian zoo, which became a member of the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) in 2009, started almost half a century before this event, in 1960. It was established in the Chandaka Forest near the city of Bhubaneswar and was called the Botanical Garden. It was inhabited by several species of deer and antelopes as well as a couple of wild boars and bears. Later, special cages for birds, reptile aquariums, and spacious enclosures for monkeys and wild cats were created. Four years after its opening, a cougar, a pair of African lions, and the first tiger – the world's largest cat appeared here. The latter became the visiting card of this zoo. Along with wild cats, two marsh crocodiles were added to the inhabitants of the garden that year. In 198, the Botanical Garden was renamed Nandankanan Zoo, which means «Garden of Heaven» in Hindi.

Today, the fabulous «Garden of Heaven», covering an area of around 450 hectares, is home to more than 1,600 animals of 166 species, including endangered Asian lions, lion-tailed macaques wanderoo, and Nilgiri langurs, pangolins, and the world's smallest ungulates – deer. Black panthers and white tigers, as well as gharials, successfully breed here. That gives the zoo an excellent reputation and makes it highly regarded by international animal welfare organizations. Moreover, Nandankanan is home to the largest number of captive white tigers.