It was built for Nasereddin Shah’s excursions and a collection of 4 lions from the mountains of Shiraz, 3 tigers from Mazandaran, 3 leopards and a cheetah from Jajrud, 5 bears from Damavand, and striped hyenas, baboons, monkeys, apes, peafowl and predatory birds were kept in the zoo. People could visit the park unless the king was hiking in there.
Also, there was a permanent exhibition of elephants at elephant house in Darolkhalafeh and the Indian elephants were used in especial occasions. In Qajari era, the first zoo was not established until Naser al-Din Shah Qajar established it at Lakhti Street (Sadi). It was small and few people were visiting it.
Later, when Naser al-Din Shah Qajar traveled to Europe he was inspired by the modern zoological gardens. He established the capital Zoological Garden at Doshan Tappeh, where there was already a mansion established from 1853 containing a lake using qanat as the water source.
