The place where different kinds of animals, beasts and birds are kept is called a zoo. It is a place of great interest for all persons, especially students. Here, the students can become familiar with the animal world. A visit to a zoo has great educational value. It increases our knowledge about the various kinds of animals found in various parts of the world.
Animals and beasts live in thick forests. These forests are far away from cities. People living in cities do not know much about animals. By paying a visit to a zoo, they can know what different species of animals look like, what they eat and drink, where and how they live and what their habits are.
India has a number of zoological parks especially in big cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, etc.
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The zoo in Delhi is located near Purana Qila on the Mathura Road. Last Sunday, students of class XII of our school visited this zoo. We started from our school by a chartered bus at 10.00 A.M. and reached Purana Qila by 10.30 A.M. There were a lot of visitors. The entry to the zoo is by ticket. There is a concessional ticket for students. We bought our tickets and entered the zoo by the main gate.
Image Source: sites.psu.edu
The zoo has beautiful lawns and paths. First of all, we saw water-birds like cranes, swans, ducks, etc. They were swimming in a pond. We were thrilled by the beauty of these water-birds. We had no difficulty in knowing the names of these birds. Their names were written on the wooden plates fixed on the ground by the zoo authorities.
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Then we saw the birds kept in cages. There were pigeons, parrots and sparrows. These birds looked very gentle and beautiful. They were hopping and fluttering in their cages. They were chirping merrily. These birds were of different colours and sizes. They belonged to different countries.
After walking a little, we saw a forest-like enclosure in which we saw deer running about. We noticed a Neelgai standing alone near a tree. We also saw a pair of rhinos standing in cool but muddy water. Rhinos have a massive body with a horn on the nose. Their skin is very thick. They are found in the forests of Assam.
We moved on to the next section. It had wild animals like lions, tigers, panthers, leopards and bears. All these animals were kept in separate cages.
We saw a white tiger. It had become an object of attraction for all. Pair of tigers was sleeping. A lion was moving to and fro in his cage. His eyes were red with anger. He looked ferocious. He calmed down only after a keeper served a big piece of raw meat to the lion. We then saw a jackal, a wolf and a few foxes.
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Then we saw the enclosure where only snakes and cobras were kept. They were of different sizes and colours. The longest cobra was 4 metres long and weighed 10 kg. It had a beautiful multi-coloured skin.
When we went a little ahead, we saw elephants, monkeys, camels, ponies, etc. We enjoyed a camel-ride there. Some others preferred an elephant-ride. Monkeys were hopping from one tree to another. Sometimes, they came very close to the visitors. The visitors gave those fruit, gram or cornflakes. They were so naughty that they would even snatch away eatables from the visitors.
It was 2 P.M. and we were extremely tired. We were feeling hungry. We therefore sat down in a park under the shade of a tree. We took our lunch which we had brought from our home with us. Thereafter, we took tea from a nearby restaurant there. After taking rest for a while, we resumed the rest of our tour of the zoo and saw owls, partridges and hawks in their cages.
In the evening, we came back home. We had enjoyed ourselves at the zoo the whole day. The visit to the zoo had increased our knowledge. It was a very interesting and informative experience.