Welcome to India’s first snake park

The Chennai Snake Park

The Chennai Snake Park Trust (Formerly Madras Snake Park Trust)  is a not-for-profit NGO constituted in 1972.

The focal point of the Trust’s activities is the Chennai Snake Park established in 1972.  It is located at Guindy, Chennai, on the Sardar Patel Road. The Snake Park occupies an area of one acre of land given on long-term lease by the Govt. of Tamil Nadu.

First Board of Trustee

  • Doris. N.Chattopadhyaya
  • A.N.Jagannatha Rao
  • M.Krishnan
  • S.Meenakshisundram
  • M.V.Rajendran
  • Harry Miller
  • Romulus Whitaker

Donate for a cause.

Donations from like-minded individuals are invited to help upgrade our resources and better serve our cause.  Donations may be sent by cheque or DD payable to the Chennai Snake Park Trust, Chennai 600 022. 

All donations to the Trust are deductible for tax purposes under Sec.80 G of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

Donate now

Visitors

The Snake Park attracts over five lakhs of visitors in a year of whom one-fifth are children.  

Source of funds

Except for some assistance received from outside agencies, especially the Central Zoo Authority, on an occasional basis, the entire expenditure on the Park is taken care of by the gate collections.  Since this is a not-for-profit organization, the gate fee is kept at a bare minimum.

snakes

As of now, the Snake Park has on display, 20 species of Indian snakes, all three species of Indian crocodilians, two species of exotic crocodiles, three species of Indian turtles/tortoises, four species of Indian lizards and four species of exotic reptiles (iguanas, slider turtles, spitting cobras, albino pythons) making a total of  36 species.

The snakes are all housed in glass-fronted reptile-friendly and visitor-friendly enclosures.

The big Four

crocodiles

The crocodiles and the larger lizards are in open-air enclosures protected by parapet walls and wire-mesh.

Dioramas

Life-size models of king cobra and its nest, combat dance in rat snakes and in monitor lizards, four species of true cobras of India, python swallowing deer, python hatching eggs, chameleon sticking out its 1 ft. long tongue to catch insect, flying snake, flying lizard and green pit viper are important attractions here.  A good collection of preserved specimens are also present. Together these items make up our museum.

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