| Guindy National Park | |
|---|---|
 Guindy National Park entrance | |
  Location in Chennai, India Show map of Tamil Nadu Guindy National Park (India) Show map of India | |
 Interactive map of Guindy National Park | |
| Location | Chennai,Tamil Nadu,India |
| Nearest city | Chennai |
| Coordinates | 13°00′13″N80°13′45″E / 13.0036°N 80.2293°E /13.0036; 80.2293 |
| Area | 2.7057 km2 (1.0447 sq mi) |
| Established | 1977 |
| Visitors | 700,000 (in 2006[1]) |
| Governing body | Tamil Nadu Forest Department |
| forests.tn.nic.in | |
Guindy National Park is aprotected area, located inChennai, India. Spread across 2.70 km2 (1.04 sq mi), it is one of the smallestNational Parks in India and one of the few national parks situated inside ametropolitan area. The park is an extension of the grounds surroundingRaj Bhavan, the official residence of theGovernor of Tamil Nadu and encloses forests, scrub lands, lakes and streams.
The park has a role in bothex situ andin situ conservation and is home to a variety of species including a wide variety ofsnakes,geckos,tortoises, over 130 species of birds, 14 species of mammals including 400blackbucks, 2,000spotted deer, 24jackals, over 60 species ofbutterflies andspiders each and otherinvertebrates. These are free-ranging fauna that live with minimal interference from human beings.Guindy Snake Park, formerly the location ofMadras Crocodile Bank Trust and Children's Park are located next to the park in the same premises. As of 2007, the parks had 700,000 annual visitors.
Covering an area of 5 km2 (1.93 sq mi), the park was one of the last remnants oftropical dry evergreen forest along theCoromandel Coast and was originally agame reserve. In the early 1670s, a garden space was carved out of the area and a residence called theGuindy Lodge was built by GovernorWilliam Langhorne (1672–1678) for recreation. The remaining of the forest area was owned by Gilbert Rodericks, from whom it was purchased by theGovernment of Madras in 1821 for a sum of₹ 35,000. The original area of 505 ha (1,250 acres) was established as aReserve Forest in 1910.[2][3][4]
Between 1961 and 1977, about 172 ha (430 acres) of the forest, was transferred to various government departments in order to build educational institutions and memorials.[5] In 1958, a portion of the forest area was transferred to the Union Education Ministry for establishing theIndian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT). In the same year, a portion of the land was transferred to theTamil Nadu Forest Department for creating the Guindy Deer Park and Children's Park under the direction of thenPrime Minister of India,Jawaharlal Nehru. Memorials forRajaji andKamaraj were built in 1974 and 1975, respectively, from parcels of land acquired from the reserve. In 1977, the remaining forest area was transferred to the Forest Department and in 1978, it was declared a national park. It was walled off from the adjacent Raj Bhavan and IIT Madras in the late 1980s.[6]
The Guindy National Park had historically enjoyed a certain degree of protection and was one of the last remnants of the natural habitats that typify the natural range of plant and animalbiodiversity of the Coromandel coastal plains in the northeastern Tamil Nadu.[7][8] The park has a tropical climate with mean annual temperatures of 32.9 °C (91.2 °F) (maximum) and 24.3 °C (75.7 °F) (minimum). Rainfall ranges from 522 mm (20.6 in) to 2,135 mm (84.1 in), with an average annual rainfall of 1,215 mm (47.8 in). The summer season in April and May determines the peculiar vegetation of the coast. Between June and December, wet season prevails, with dry season occurring between January and March. The area also has a cleared meadow called Polo Field measuring about 230 m (750 ft) by 160 m (520 ft) and a lake known as the 'Tangal Eri'.[5] The presence of the park and the surrounding green areas resulted in the epithetthe green lungs of Chennai. The park is protected by a perimeter wall for a length of 9.5 km (5.9 mi). There is an extensive network of roads and trails. The road network covers about 14 km (8.7 mi) within the park. The park has two large tanks, namely, Kathan Kollai and Appalam Kolam, in addition to two ponds, which usually dry up during summer.[5]
The park has adry evergreen scrub andthorn forest, grasslands and water bodies with over 350 species of plants including shrubs, climbers, herbs and grasses and over 24 variety of trees, including thesugar-apple,Atlantia monophylla,wood-apple, andneem. The region's physiognomy occurs as discontinuous or dense scrub-woodlands and thickets, containing species such as introducedAcacia planifrons,Clausena dentata shrubs, palmyrah palm (Borassus flabellifer),Randia dumetorum,Randia malabarica,Carissa spinarum,Acacia chundra, exotic cactusCereus peruviana andGlycosmis mauritiana.[citation needed] This flora provides an ideal habitat for over 150 species of birds. About one-sixth of the park has been left as open grassland to preserve that habitat for blackbucks. Though both the species of blackbuck and spotted deer have their natural habitat in grassland, the spotted deer prefer bushes and can adjust in land covered with shrubbery.[citation needed]
There are over 14 species of mammals includingblackbuck,chital,jackal,small Indian civet,common palm civet,bonnet macaque,hyena,pangolin,hedgehog,common mongoose,Indian palm squirrel, andIndian hare apart from several species ofbats androdents. Thenear threatened blackbuck, considered as the flagship species of the park, was introduced in 1924 byFreeman Freeman-Thomas.[9] Albino male blackbucks were also introduced to the park by the Maharaja of Bhavnagar.[5] While the blackbuck population has seen a decline, the chital population has increased in the last century. As per the census conducted on 29 February 2004, there were 405 blackbucks.(including 10 in the IIT campus), and 2,650 chitals including 1,743 females and 336 fawns.[5][6]
The park has over 150 species of birds includinggrey partridge,crow pheasant,parrot,quail,paradise flycatcher,black-winged kite,honey buzzard,pariah kite,golden-backed woodpecker,yellow-wattled lapwing,red-wattled lapwing,blue-faced malkoha,shrikes,Asian koel,minivets,munias,parakeet,tailor bird,robin,drongo, andstone curlew. Bird watchers anticipate migratory birds here liketeals,garganeys,pochards,medium egrets,large egrets,night herons,pond herons andopen-billed storks every fall season.[10] The park is home to about nine species ofamphibians[5] There park hostsreptiles suchsaw-scaled viper,fan-throated lizard, andIndian monitor lizard. There are other species oflizards,geckos,chameleons,turtles, andtortoises including theendangeredIndian star tortoise. There are a large variety of insects including 60 species ofspiders and 60 species ofbutterflies.[citation needed]
Guindy Snake Park, formerly the location ofMadras Crocodile Bank Trust, is next to the Guindy National Park. The Snake Park gained statutory recognition as a medium zoo from theCentral Zoo Authority in 1995. The park is located on an 22 acres (8.9 ha) area of the National Park and includes a children's park and play area. The park displaysking cobra,pythons,vipers and other reptiles, animals such as black buck,sambar, spotted deer,porcupine, jackal,crocodile,common otter,rhesus monkey,bonnet monkey andcommon langur and birds includinggrey pelican, night heron,cormorant,cockatiel,parrot,mongoose,common peafowl. The children's park also exhibits a fossilized tree specimen which is estimated to be about 20 million years old and has a statue of aTyrannosaurus at the entrance.[11] In December 2019, anaugmented reality (AR) show with a capacity of 20 persons was opened to public.[12]
Entry into this protected reserve is restricted, and visitors can go into the core area only when escorted by a forest ranger from the Forest Department.[13] The children's park and the snake park have separate entrances fromSardar Patel Road next to theAdyar Cancer Institute and independent entry fees. The parks are open from 9 AM to 6 PM on all days except Tuesday. The nearest railway stations are theKasturba Nagar MRTS station onChennai MRTS,Guindy railway station on theChennai Suburban Railway andGuindy metro station on theChennai Metro.[11]
