Since 1960
A forest before it was ever a zoo
Nandan Kanan — "the garden of paradise" — grew out of a stretch of natural sal forest on Kanjia Lake, just outside Bhubaneswar. Rather than build enclosures into cleared land, the park was shaped around the forest that was already there, which is why so much of it still feels like wilderness with a path through it.
990+acres of forest & lakewater
1960the park's founding year
2connected lakes inside the park
1stzoo ropeway built in India
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You don't just see the animals here — you walk into their forest. The lake, the sal trees, the quiet: it was all here first.
Park NaturalistNandan Kanan Zoological Park