"Urban oasis showcasing diverse wildlife."
The Guindy National Park forms one of the main attractions for people coming to Chennai for vacations. The National Park is an amazing picnic spot for you, your family and friends. Spending a day out in the lap of nature and wildlife is an amazing experience. To add to its natural beauty, the National Park has a snake park and a children's park. The Guindy National Park has a network of road's, nature trails, footpaths, lakes and ponds and offers excellent opportunities for viewing wildlife. In terms of botanical importance and history, the Guindy National Park is quite interesting as even today it carries derelict vegetation, which is truly representative of the natural thorny scrub of the southern dry zone. There is an interesting story behind the Guindy National Park. The present day Guindy Park was actually a hunting preserve in its early days and belonged to a British citizen named Gilbert Rodericks. After his death the Government of Madras purchased it in the year 1821 and later in 1910, it was declared as a reserved forest. Plant Life at the Guindy National Park Guindy Park encompasses various species and a variety of plant life. There are over 24 varieties of trees in the National park. Some of the prominent trees that you can spot here at the park are Atlanta Monoplylla, Amona Squamosa, Feronia Azadirachta India, Limonia, etc. In addition to this there are more than 14 shrub varieties that are found in the park. Animal Life at the Guindy National Park You can find a variety of animal life at the National Park. The rare Indian Antelope, popularly known as the "Black Buck", forms the main attraction at the Park. You will be amazed to know that this variety of antelope is found only in India. The park is also rich in mammalians as there are over 14 types of mammals like Elephant, Spotted Deer, Antelope, Toddy Cat, Jungle Cat etc. There are many varieties of amphibians and snakes in the National Park. For bird lovers the Park is a great place to be in as it accounts for over 37 varieties of birds like the King Fisher, Golden Backed Woodpecker, Blue Jay, Yellow Wattled Lapwing, Crow Pheasant, Red Wattled Lapwing, Blue Faced Malkoha, Koels, Shrikes, Doves, Munias, Minivets, Barkets, Gray Partridge, Parakeets, Tailor Birds, Drongos, Robins, Quails, Flycatcher, Beak Paradise, Stone Curlew and many more.
