Gangtok Zoo

^{The red panda}

 If you are looking for a good long walk in Himalayan outdoors, in the vicinity of Gangtok, Sikkim's capital, the Zoological Garden provides an excellent opportunity. It's a large area of semi wilderness on the side of a mountain range where the cages are interspersed with generous stretches of natural vegetation. A road, about two and a half kilometres long, runs from end to end and in many parts the zoo's boundary, especially towards the summit above, is surrounded by forest.

^{The wonderful Himalayan outdoors}

In late March wild strawberry flowers bloom along the pathways and strawberries are ripe for picking. There is an abundance of beautiful large ferns. One variety has fronds that flow downwards like tapestry from the mountain sides.   Some of the fern fronds can exceed six feet in length. Another eye catching variety of ferns grows to what looks like a mid sized palm tree with a wooden stem and a crown of fronds. Conifers stand tall and strong, pines, arborvitae and firs. The needles of some, we were told, are burnt as incense and emit a sweet fragrance. They are called dhoopi locally. Bamboo is conspicuous even at this altitude of 6,000 feet in the Himalayas. Two varieties can be commonly seen, the larger one has a girth comparable to a street lamp, that grows very tall, I'd estimate 50 feet and more, and sports leaves shaped like large mango leaves and the other variety is finer with a stem one could well encircle between thumb and finger. Wild flowers are abundant at this time and the scenic outdoor and exhilarating mountain air make for a wonderful walk.

^{Strawberry along the path (above) and fern tapestry (below)}

The Gangtok Zoo follows a philosophy of immersion exhibition. Animals are made to feel they are in their natural surroundings. Hence the greater amount of greenery on its grounds. Enclosures are also designed with attention to what the animal would feel comfortable in. So, a large boulder has been constructed for the Tibetan wolf that provides a cave like shelter for seclusion and a good spot to climb onto and bask on when sun is out.   The animals that we came across looked healthy and happy. The red panda, snow leopard and the Tibetan wolf are some of zoo's wonderful denizens.

As I admired the snow leopard from close to its cage, squatting, to watch it at eye level, there was a moment when the leopard came straight towards me and sprang up to a stand, spreading its forelegs on the wire-mesh between us. An embrace in mind?

^{Snow Leopard}

There is a smart five storied observation tower built on the highest parts of the zoo's ground that gives a panoramic view of the zoo, the snow leopard’s cage and the surrounding mountain ranges. 

As we watched the beautiful surroundings from the top of the tower a series of fox howls resonated in forest besides the leopard’s cage, the forest that runs up to the mountains summit. It served as a fresh reminder of just how close by the wild really was and how generous nature has been in providing such a bounty to the land and people of Sikkim.

^{Wolves basking on Council Rock and the Observation Tower}

^{Updated:  April 30, 2011
Photographs:  Ami, Kumud, Ruchir and Vinay Bansal
Author:  Ruchir Bansal}