Tamil Nadu Timeline

EnvironmentRise of Dravidian rule

Madras Snake Park moves to Guindy

· Guindy National Park

On land leased from the Forest Department in Guindy, herpetologist Romulus Whitaker established an enlarged snake park, run by a trust he set up.

Romulus Whitaker, a herpetologist born in America, came back to India in 1967 and founded the Madras Snake Park. In 1972 he took a lease on a site at Guindy, the land belonging to the Tamil Nadu government's Forest Department, and, together with several Madras naturalists, built a larger park there. Its management was entrusted to a trust, which was later called the Chennai Snake Park Trust. The park grew into the city's main venue for teaching the public about reptiles.

Related events

  1. 1967

    1. 1967Point Calimere Wildlife and Bird SanctuaryEnvironment

      Point Calimere Wildlife Sanctuary created

      To shelter blackbuck and vast flocks of waterbirds, a sanctuary was established at Point Calimere on the Palk Strait.

  2. 1974

    1. 1974Anamalai Tiger ReserveEnvironment

      Anaimalai Wildlife Sanctuary notified

      The forests of the Anaimalai hills in the Western Ghats were notified as a wildlife sanctuary, later the Anamalai Tiger Reserve.

  3. 1976

    1. 26 Aug 1976Madras Crocodile Bank TrustEnvironment

      Madras Crocodile Bank founded

      The Madras Crocodile Bank was founded on the East Coast Road by Romulus Whitaker, Zai Whitaker and others to protect India's crocodile species.

  4. 1978

    1. 1978Guindy National ParkEnvironment

      Guindy declared a national park

      What was left of the forest on the old Guindy estate in Chennai was made a national park, among the smallest in India and one of only a few within a city.

  5. 1980

    1. Oct 1980Pulicat LakeEnvironment

      Tamil Nadu part of Pulicat Lake declared a bird sanctuary

      The Tamil Nadu portion of the Pulicat lagoon in Tiruvallur district was declared a bird sanctuary in October 1980.

  6. 1985

    1. 1985VandalurEnvironment

      Madras zoo moves to Vandalur as Arignar Anna Zoological Park

      The Madras Zoo, founded in 1855, moved to a large new site at Vandalur as the Arignar Anna Zoological Park.

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