The Darjeeling Zoo, the highest altitude zoological garden in India, housing rare Himalayan animals such as red panda and snow leopard, has over 200 species of trees, shrubs, climbers, medicinal herbs, fungi and micro flora, says a study.
“The study was aimed to identify and highlight the vegetation in the zoo which is overlooked by visitors,” said A.K. Jha, Director of the Padmaja Naidu Himalayan Zoological Park (PNHZP), popularly known as the Darjeeling Zoo.
Explaining the reasons for such a high concentration of flora at the 67-acre zoo located at the height of 7153 ft (2,150 m) inside Darjeeling town, Mr. Jha said the park was one of very few stretches of natural forest that had remained largely untouched.
According to experts, when the British came to Darjeeling in the late 19th Century, there was large-scale deforestation for setting up tea gardens in the hills and for building the town.
The study says the zoo has 93 species of trees belonging to 31 families, 34 species of shrubs belonging to 26 families, 9 species of climbers belonging to 8 families and 48 species of herbs from 26 families. Among the non-flowering plants, 31 species of fungi are also present.
The trees include slow-growing Oak, some of which are more than 100 years old, Alder, Birch and other trees belonging to genus Quercus and Castanopsis. The garden has 60 species of orchids.
Among the medicinal herbs present at the zoo are Artemisia vulgaris used to treat high blood pressure and Eupatorium adenophorum used for treating cuts and wounds. A study of micro flora is being conducted.
