Vandalur zoo timings - 2025

The zoo might be closed on these occasions too.

For the safety of its visitors and the animals, the management might close the zoo when there have been heavy rains or other inevitable scenarios. On these occasions, they usually announce the closure of the zoo beforehand. Watch out for the news before you plan on such rainy days.

In the past, there have been some exceptional cases when the Vandalur Zoo had to be closed for various reasons, mainly because of natural interruptions.

2015 floods.

In 2015 November and December, various parts of Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai, received unprecedented levels of rain, resulting in massive floods across the city. The Zoo was shut down for days until the city came back to normalcy.

Vardah cyclone.

In December 2016, another nature calamity stuck South India, this time in the form of a storm. The whole of Tamil Nadu suffered heavy logistical damage, while many trees fell on roads and were made a mess by the Vardah Cyclone.

The zoo also incurred heavy damages including around 15,000 trees being uprooted. The park was closed for two months and finally got reopened in February 2017. It was reported that all the animals were safe and no life loss happened in the zoo.

Covid-19 impact.

While the whole world was suffering the wrath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Vandaloor zoo was also shut for about 8 months to avoid transmission of the virus among the crowd. The park reopened in November 2020 with precautionary procedures including mandatory mask rules inside the zoo's premises.

This was when the authority made the initiative to display some popular animals on a 24/7 live stream to the public on their official website so that people can view the animals from the comfort of their homes. Around 10 cameras have been installed for the purpose of the live telecast.

There are multiple instances in which the zoo remained closed because of the rain. Kindly check with the announcements from the officials before planning for a visit.