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Maharaj Baug Zoo: Old Roots, New Struggles

Maharaj Baug Zoo: Old Roots, New Struggles
Maharaj Baug Zoo: Old Roots, New Struggles

Imagine stepping into a place where time seems to have paused, where the air carries a faint whiff of history, and the ground beneath your feet tells a story older than most buildings around it.


It’s not a museum or a crumbling fort, but a zoo, one that’s been around longer than anyone can quite agree on.

There’s something about it that pulls you in, not with fanfare or grandeur, but with a strange, understated pull. What is it about this spot in Vidarbha's Nagpur that keeps it going, even as it fades into the background?



The Beginnings of Maharaj Baug Zoo


Nagpur has its share of quirks, and Maharaj Baug Zoo is one of them. Pinning down when it started is a bit like trying to catch smoke. Some say it kicked off in 1863, when the Bhonsle rulers, Maratha royalty with a taste for the exotic, turned their private garden into a menagerie of animals and birds.


Others reckon it was 1894 when it opened its gates to the public, a gift from the rulers to the city. The truth probably lies somewhere in between, muddled by patchy records and the passage of time. What’s clear is that it was a statement, a slice of royal life laid out on Amravati Road for all to see.


Back then, the Bhonsles weren’t short on ambition. Their garden, already a sprawl of greenery, became home to tigers, leopards, and peacocks, creatures that must have turned heads in a city more used to bullock carts than big cats.



By the early 1900s, it was a proper zoo, or at least as proper as things got in those days. The Panjabrao Deshmukh Krishi Vidyapeeth (PKV), an agricultural university, took over its care, and it fell under the watchful eye of India’s Central Zoo Authority much later.

It wasn’t flashy, but it had a certain charm, a quiet corner where Nagpur’s residents could gawk at animals they’d otherwise only hear about in stories.


The zoo dodged a bullet in 2006 when the Ministry of Environment and Forests came knocking. They weren’t happy as the cages were cramped, healthcare for the animals was shaky, and the whole setup looked like it hadn’t changed since the British left.


Closure loomed, but the Nagpur Municipal Corporation stepped in with cash to build a wall along a nearby nullah, a drainage channel that was making the animals sick.

By 2007, the zoo was back in the clear, patched up just enough to keep going. It’s the kind of story that sums up Maharaj Baug, not thriving, but hanging on.



What’s Left of It Now

Maharajbaug Garden
Maharajbaug Garden

Walk into Maharaj Baug Zoo today, and you’ll see a place that’s seen better days. The ticket counter charges a measly 20 rupees for adults and half that for kids. It is cheap enough to make you wonder how they keep the lights on.


Inside, the animals are few and far between. A tiger paces in its cage, a leopard stares blankly, and a handful of deer and monkeys dot the enclosures.

There’s a crocodile or two if you’re lucky and some birds that look like they’ve been there forever. It’s not a long list, and it’s not meant to be. This isn’t a safari park or a sprawling wildlife haven, it’s a small, tired zoo in the middle of a city.


Visitors don’t mince words in pointing out the dated enclosures and the animals’ listless behaviour.  The reviews aren’t all doom and gloom. Some call it a decent spot for kids, with a play area and enough shade to make a morning bearable.



But the consensus is clear that it’s a shadow of what it could be. The cages, stuck in a 1960s time warp, don’t help.

Nor does the fact that funding seems to have dried up years ago. The PKV, which still runs the show, hasn’t got the cash to turn things around, and the low entry fees aren’t exactly filling the coffers.


Then there’s the Gorewada factor. In 2021, Nagpur got a shiny new zoo, the Balasaheb Thackeray Gorewada International Zoological Park, a mouthful of a name for a place that’s everything Maharaj Baug isn’t. Spread over 1,914 hectares near Gorewada Lake, it’s got open enclosures, safari rides, and plans for night tours.


It was meant to take Maharaj Baug’s animals and give them a better home, a move that started making waves when it opened on January 27, 2021.


But the handover’s been murky. Some animals, tigers, leopards, maybe a few others, seem to have stayed put, while Gorewada’s been busy snapping up extras from places like Solapur’s Mahatma Gandhi Zoo.

Maharaj Baug, meanwhile, limps along, half-empty and overlooked.



It’s not hard to see why it’s in this state. Money’s tight, and priorities have shifted. Gorewada’s the future. It is big, modern, and built to pull in crowds. Maharaj Baug feels like a relic, a place that’s been left to fend for itself while the city moves on.


Yet it’s still there, open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., drawing a trickle of visitors who either don’t know about Gorewada or can’t be bothered to make the trip.


The Bigger Picture


Zoos like Maharaj Baug aren’t just about animals; they’re about people, too. In its heyday, it was a window into a world most Nagpur residents couldn’t reach.


Tigers and leopards weren’t strolling down the street,  they were jungle myths, brought to life behind bars. For kids growing up in the early 20th century, a trip to the zoo was a rare treat, a chance to see something wild up close.


Even now, with Gorewada stealing the spotlight, Maharaj Baug holds onto that role for some, a cheap day out, a bit of nostalgia, or just a place to kill a few hours.

But it’s also a case study in how things change. India’s zoos have come a long way since the Bhonsles’ time. The 1998 National Zoo Policy pushed for better standards, open enclosures, proper healthcare, and a focus on conservation rather than just display.


Gorewada’s the poster child for that shift, with its safari zones and natural habitats. Maharaj Baug, stuck with its old cages and concrete pens, looks like it missed the memo. The 2006 scare should’ve been a wake-up call, but the fixes were stopgap, enough to dodge closure, not enough to keep up with the times.



It’s not just about money or neglect, though. There’s a broader question here is what’s the point of a place like this in 2025?

Zoos used to be about showing off exotic creatures, but today’s visitors expect more: education, conservation, and a sense that the animals aren’t just props.


Maharaj Baug doesn’t deliver on that front. Its animals aren’t part of breeding programmes or research projects; they’re just there, pacing or sleeping through the day. Compare that to Gorewada, where the focus is on mimicking natural environments and giving animals space to move.


The gap’s stark, and it’s not one Maharaj Baug can bridge without a serious cash injection, something that doesn’t seem likely anytime soon.

The zoo’s location doesn’t help either. Slap bang in the middle of Nagpur, it’s hemmed in by roads and buildings. There’s no room to grow, no way to add the sprawling enclosures modern zoos demand.


Gorewada, out by the lake, has all the space it needs. It’s a physical limit that mirrors the bigger problem that this is a zoo built for a different era, struggling to fit into a world that’s moved on.


And yet, it’s not dead. The Central Zoo Authority still lists it as operational, and the PKV hasn’t thrown in the towel.


There’s talk of keeping it open for “new animals,” whatever that means, maybe a few stragglers that don’t fit Gorewada’s grand plans. It’s a stubborn little place, clinging to existence while the city’s attention drifts elsewhere.


Whether that’s down to nostalgia, bureaucracy, or sheer inertia, it’s hard to say. But for now, it’s still part of Nagpur’s fabric, a faded thread that hasn’t quite snapped.


Standing outside Maharaj Baug Zoo, you can’t help but wonder who’s really watching who.



The animals might be the draw, but it’s the people, shuffling past with their kids or snapping quick photos, who keep the place alive.

There’s no fanfare here, no glossy brochures or guided tours.


Maybe it doesn’t need to compete with the big new park down the road. Or maybe, one day, someone will walk through those gates and see something worth fighting for, a spark that’s been waiting all along.


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