A glimpse of the Animal Kingdom of Iran from my Tehran Diary

 

Our holiday to Tehran was almost coming to an end. The holiday was incredibly fulfilling and satisfactory for my wife and me as Iran was home to one of the world's oldest continuous major civilizations, with historical and urban settlements dating back to 4000 BC. However, the young star (my only son) in the family was not too happy with the last few days trip to major historical tourist spots, monuments. Understanding the sentiments of the holiday spirits, we decided to visit the top Zoo and bird garden before leaving the city.

We collected the necessary information by Goggling and from the landlord of our homestay. We decided to cover the best Zoological Garden of Iran and the Bird sanctuary before we bid a farewell to the beautiful city – Tehran.

Persian history and culture say that the Iranian always had a great bonding, love and affinity for the animal kingdom for centuries. A German traveller, during his visit to Isfahan in 1637, had come across a zoo in the city.

 Tehran was also in the limelight because the city used to hold several exhibitions of baboons, apes, snakes, bears and lions and Indian Elephants. Later in the year 1853, Naser al-Din Shah Qajar, the then Shah of Iran, established the first Tehran Zoological Garden at Doshan Tappeh, Today the country has about seventy-one zoos and bird gardens ( mostly licensed) barring a few ones.

To keep the holiday spirits flying high, we decided to schedule our visit to Tehran Zoological Center (popular as Eram Zoo) and Bird Garden during the weekend in Tehran.

Thursday, the 24 th October 2019 Our Visit To Eram Zoo  in Tehran

It was a bright but pleasant morning with a bit of chill in the air in Tehran, and we took a local cab from our homestay. It was about 6 Km, the grand Eram Zoo, prominently located on Tehran - Karaj Expressway near the Eram Park. Spread in a sprawling geographic area of 4.5 hectares, Eram Zoo got inaugurated in the year  1992, housing over more than 290 species. We briefed our young star, the Eram story with the help of Google Guru on the way to the Zoo as he was buzzing with excitement.

We reached there in 20 minutes and bought the entry passes, and our exciting journey started. We kept few water and juice bottles alongside few snack packets handy and not the least my travel companion, the Nikkon camera . to discover the beauty of the animal kingdom, through the lens of my favourite camera.

Eram Zoo had all of the big-ticket animals you expect to see in a traditional world-class zoo. Besides lions, monkeys, and crocodiles,  it also had some rare animals.  Half of the day passed in exploring them, and we realized why the visitors consider it as the country's best Zoo.  There were   African lion, Bengal tiger, African and Persian leopard, Siberian tiger, Eurasian lynx, striped hyena, Asiatic cheetah.

We also came across a large variety of Canine like wolf, jackal, fox. Primates: chimpanzee, baboon, rhesus macaque. Bears: brown bear. Birds: crowned crane, peacock, pheasant, pelican, saker falcon, vulture, eagle and penguin.  There were also Reptiles and amphibians: python, Iran Plateau short snout crocodile, lizard, iguana, turtle too.

After a little lunch break with a sumptuous Iranian buffet, we also had been to the area where we came across  Marsupials: the kangaroo.  Rodents: porcupine, Persian squirrel, rabbit, hamster. The presence of  Persian fallow deer, red deer, Bactrian camel, African bush elephant and  Sri Lankan elephant, delighted the youngster beyond imagination. 

Irrespective of your love towards the animal planet, you would always like a visit to the   Eram Zoo as one world-class tourist attraction.  The semi-open enclosures and tropical jungle habitat give visitors a refreshing glimpse into how animals might behave in their natural environments—all I could say that it was a great way to begin our last weekend in the Persian capital.

FRIDAY –The 25^th October ’20 – A Visit To Tehran’s Bird Garden

Our visit to Eram zoo has inspired my son so much; today he was the first member to wake up in the morning and gave us the wakeup call around 7 AM today. By 9.30 AM, we all finished our breakfast and all set to start our voyage for the day – Tehran’s famous Bird Garden.

Around 10.30 AM, we all made an entry into the fantastic world of birds. Spread on a sprawling layout of 23 hectares. Its location was in the mid of famous Lazivan forest in the north-west of the city. It was a treat for our eyes and realized why it was a favourite place for the bird watchers and the tourists alike. We came across a colourful flock of parrots, pigeons and doves, alongside some species of bird of prey and Iranian and African ostriches. We also came across a large group of seasonal migratory birds.

Tehran's Bird Garden had accommodation for  6500 plus birds from 55 different species. 90% of the birds were kept in a completely natural environment and not caged, barring a few. Tehran’s Bird’s Garden is a perfect landscaped garden which had a major attraction for the birds to come and live there for a long time. Birds would always in search of three primary things: food, water and shelter. They can be acquired through the proper flowers and plantation inside the park—due courtesy to the planners and management of the project who had been delivering an excellent job.

Around 4 PM, we decided to call it a day after taking several photographs and came back to our homestay. It was a good time for the family and were all set to catch an early morning flight to New Delhi, the following morning.  But the memories of our visit to Iranian Zoo was superb and would be cherished in fond remembrances for the days to come.