The Sakkarbaug Zoo, established in 1863, is one of the oldest Zoos of India. It is as old as the concept of modern Zoos in India; serving mankind for conservation, education and knowledge - based entertainment for more than 140 years now. Collections of wild animals for entertainment is a very old activity pursued by man. However, collection of wild animals for the purpose of education, ex-situ conservation, captive (conservation) breeding of endangered animals and public display in modern Zoos which started with the establishment of the Zoo at Viena in 1752 A.D., during the time of renaissance, along with the museum and natural-history museums for the storage and display of works of art, scientific specimens or other objects of cultural and scientific importance.

The legend and popular belief has it that the name sakkarbaug has originated from a garden having sweet water well.( Sakkar-sugar, Baug-garden )

Spread over about 198 Hectares of sylvan landscape in the foothills of Girnar at Junagadh, the Sakkarbaug Zoo houses more than 850[January, 2001] wild animals of 71 species. It serves to the curiosity and educational needs of more than 850,000 visitors per annum. Based on its collection, area and number of visitors, the Central Zoo Authority of India has designated the Sakkarbaug Zoo as one of the 15 large and one of the 57 important zoos out of about more than 350 animal collections in India.