Originally a game reserve covering an area of 5 square kilometers, Guindy National Park was part of a tropical evergreen dry forest known as the Guindy Forest. A small portion of the reserve has since been converted into garden space. Between 1672 and 1678, a mansion was built with gardens called Guindy Lodge by then-Governor William Langhorne.
The rest of the woodland was owned by an Englishman named Gilbert Roderick, who sold it for rupees ($35,000) in 1821. An area of about 505 hectares he was declared a protected forest in 1910, and in 1945 a chital or red deer was the first animal brought into the forest.
Between 1961 and 1977, large areas of forest were given to the government for the construction of various memorials and educational facilities. In 1958, a large area of forest was made available for the construction of the Indian Institute of Technology.
The Rajaji monument was built in 1974 and the Kamaraj monument in his 1975. The Forest Department of Tamil Nadu took over his forest in 1977. A wall was then built to separate the Indian Institute of Technology and Raj Bhavan from the park. Founded in 1972 by esteemed herpetologist and conservationist Romulus Whitaker, Guindy Snake Park boasts being the nation's first reptile park. Romulus Whitaker also founded the Madras Crocodile His Bank His Trust and Herpetology Center in 1976.
Due to the large variety of snakes, several pharmaceutical companies help produce antivenom. In 1975, the Central Zoo Authority granted Snake Park the status of a medium-sized zoo.
Several trees were uprooted during the 2016 Varda Cyclone. Guindy National Park, which stretches from Sardar Patel Road from Adyar to Anna Salai at Guindy Junction, attracts more than seven tourists each year to visit the lake.
Image Gallery of Guindy National Park Chennai
Flora and Fauna at Guindy National Park Chennai
Main attraction of the park is the 20 million years old Specimen of Tyrannosaurus. The wildlife population of the Park includes Chital, Sloth Bear, dhole, and Indian spotted chevrotain, Spotted deer, common Palm Civet, Small Liven Civet, Bonnet Macaque and Pangolin.
Visitors will find solitude in the national park that provides the habitat for 14 species of mammals including Blackbuck, Hyena, Hedgehog, Common Mongoose and Three-Striped Palm Squirrel.
It is home to the Indian hare or black-necked hare, named for the patch of black fur that runs down the nape of its neck. Visitors can enjoy breathtaking views of the inspiring tropical evergreen dry forest, which is home to approximately 24 species of trees and 350 species of plants.
The main trees in the forest are Sugar Apple, Manilkara Hexandra, Mimsopus Ellengi, Strychnine, Fracourtia Indica, Eugenia, Drypetes Sepiaria, Ceylon Ebony, Atlantia Monophylla and Wood Apple. Tall deciduous trees such as Albizia Amara, Sal, and Chloroxylon are gone today, and the forest is populated by small canopy he trees.
Shrubs, crabs, herbs and grasses abound, and are home to grasshoppers, crabs, scorpions, and more than 60 species of butterflies and spiders. Bird lovers will try to find their favorite among the 130 species of feathered creatures found in the park. Blue pheasants, shrikes, parimirans, tailor birds, garganies, egrets, pond herons, parrots, black kites, eagles, golden-backed woodpeckers, pochards, open storks, and honey buzzards are just a few of the birds that can be spotted in the park.
Eurasian Hobby and Dollar Birds are rarely seen in the park. A small, elegant hawk, the Eurasian Taste is characterized by a broken white band on the nape, thin white eyebrows, and brownish-black plumage.
His one-sixth of the park is open grassland, perfect habitat for blackbucks and spotted deer. The park has about 400 black deer and he 2,000 spotted deer. Signs and trails guide visitors through the national park.
Guindy Snake Park Chennai
Guindy Snake Park, adjacent to the national park, is home to reptiles such as pythons, adders, copperheads, monitor lizards, fan-throated lizards, geckos, star tortoises, giant tortoises, crate, Indian monitor lizards and chameleons.
Also gharial, slider turtle, rock lizard, green iguana, Indian clamshell turtle, Siamese crocodile, spectacled cobra, dog-faced water snake, common vine snake, common cat snake, olive quillback, common wolf Reptiles such as snakes, common sand boas, Indian rock pythons, and Whitaker's boas are also featured. A moving museum of reptile and amphibian specimens is another interesting feature of Guindy Snake Park.
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