Chennai Snake Park in Guindy, run by the Chennai Snake Park Trust, drew 4,17,964 visitors in 2024-25, including 1,119 foreigners, according to its annual report to the Central Zoo Authority. It is closed on Tuesdays. It sits on Sardar Patel Road next to the Guindy Children’s Park, but it is a separate institution with its own ticket counter.
Founded in 1972 and calling itself India’s first reptile park, it is small, about 0.4 hectares by the CZA’s count, and can be seen properly in an hour. Here is what lives there now, what the trust does beyond the enclosures and what to know before you go.
How it started
The park began as the Madras Snake Park Trust and took its present name in 1997. Its first office bearers were a group of naturalists including Romulus Whitaker, M. Krishnan, A.N. Jagannatha Rao and Dr M.V. Rajendran, the 2024-25 report records. It stands on government land leased inside the Guindy National Park area. Its sister institution, the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust on the ECR, grew out of the same circle, but Whitaker is no longer linked with the Guindy park, The News Minute noted in 2021.
What you will see
The 2024-25 inventory lists 191 native animals: 91 belonging to protected species and 100 others, plus a separate exotic collection. The figures below are the closing stock at the end of March 2025.
| Group | Species and numbers |
|---|---|
| Venomous snakes | Indian cobra 11, Russell’s viper 6, saw-scaled viper 9, common krait 4 |
| Pythons and boas | Indian rock python 2, reticulated python 6, common sand boa 14, red sand boa 8 |
| Harmless snakes | Rat snake 6, checkered keelback 6, olive keelback 6, vine snake 7, bronzeback 4, trinket snake 3, wolf snake 3, dog-faced water snake 7 |
| Crocodilians | Gharial 13, marsh crocodile 14, saltwater crocodile 1 |
| Lizards | Indian chameleon 7, monitor lizard 3, emerald gecko 5, rock lizard 4 |
| Turtles and tortoises | Pond turtle 26, Indian softshell turtle 7, star tortoise 7 |
| Exotics | Green iguana 48, red-eared slider 11, albino python 4, spitting cobra 3, Nile and Siamese crocodiles 2 each |
The report also records a yellow anaconda transferred from Arignar Anna Zoological Park, Vandalur, in August 2024. In 2024-25, dog-faced water snakes and green iguanas bred at the park, while two old marsh crocodiles and three reticulated pythons died.
For a first visit, try to see all four of the “Big Four” venomous snakes side by side with their harmless lookalikes. The rat snake next to the cobra, and the wolf snake next to the krait, are the comparisons that matter most at home.
Beyond the enclosures
The trust runs school awareness talks, snakebite workshops with partner groups, Wildlife Week events and talks for forest trainees and university students. In 2024-25 it finished a new building with a conference hall, a lab-cum-treatment room and three animal enclosures, at a cost of Rs 49.39 lakh paid from donations.
Research is modest but active. In July 2024, venom was collected from two spectacled cobras, one trapped in Chennai and one from Tirunelveli district, for a joint study with the University of Madras zoology department. A donor-funded trial of an ultrasonic snake repellent was also started.
The trust lives mainly on ticket money. In 2024-25 it reported income of about Rs 1.75 crore against spending of about Rs 1.61 crore. The pandemic showed how fragile that is: in 2021 the park said it was down to about two months of funds after more than a year of closure, and half of its 22 staff had been laid off.
Planning a visit
- Where: Chennai Snake Park, Rajbhavan Post, Guindy, Chennai 600 022. Guindy station on the suburban line and Guindy metro are the nearest rail stops.
- Closed: Tuesdays, like the Children’s Park next door.
- Tickets: The trust had charged Rs 20 for adults and Rs 10 for children by 2021. Its current rates are not on any official page we could open, so check at the counter or on 044 2235 3623, the number listed with the Central Zoo Authority.
- Combine it: The Guindy Children’s Park, run by the Forest Department, lists 9 am to 5.30 pm hours and the same Tuesday closure on its CZA sheet.
- Monsoon note: Covered walkways are limited, so carry an umbrella and expect some enclosures to be quieter on cold, wet days.
Snake rescue is not the park’s job. Its 2024-25 report lists no wild rescues. For a snake in your house, the Forest Department’s NAAGAM app, launched at the Children’s Park on World Snake Day 2025, connects residents with trained rescuers, Adyar Times reported.
Quick answers
Is the snake park part of Guindy National Park?
It sits on leased land in the same area but is run by an independent trust, separate from the Forest Department’s Children’s Park.
Which day is Chennai Snake Park closed?
Tuesday.
How many visitors does it get?
4,17,964 in 2024-25, according to its annual report.
Does it take in snakes found in homes?
No. Call the Forest Department or use the NAAGAM app instead.
Information checked against official sources on 18 October 2026. Fees, dates and rules can change; confirm on the linked official pages before acting.
Sources
- Chennai Snake Park Trust Annual Report 2024-25 (Central Zoo Authority)
- Chennai Snake Park zoo information sheet (Central Zoo Authority)
- Guindy Children’s Park zoo information sheet (Central Zoo Authority)
- Chennai’s iconic Snake Park needs your help to survive this pandemic (The News Minute, June 2021)
- Tamil Nadu launches NAAGAM app on World Snake Day (Adyar Times, July 2025)
