them. To promote knowledge among the public on reptiles and amphibians and dispel the widespread erroneous beliefs about snakes in particular and, to this end, conduct awareness programmes targeting school children primarily and bring out low-priced publications with technical, semi-technical and popular contents on reptiles and amphibians. To aid and assist research on reptiles and amphibians including the conduct of surveys to assess their status and distribution. To undertake captive breeding of endangered species of snakes and other reptiles. To canvas public support for the protection and conservation of reptiles and amphibians. The park The park covers an area of 1 acre in the Guindy National Park campus. The land is taken on a long-term lease agreement with the Government of Tamil Nadu on a nominal rental. Accessibility to the park is provided by a small road linked to Sardar Vallabhai Patel Road. The park attracts about 700,000 visitors annually, of whom one fifth are children, generating a revenue of about 6 million. As of 2010, the park exhibits a total of 39 species, including 23 species of Indian snakes, all 3 Indian species and 4 exotic species of crocodiles, 3 species of Indian tortoises and turtles and 6 species of the larger Indian lizards. Snake species on display include reticulated python, Indian rock python, common krait, Russell's viper, saw-scaled viper, Indian rat snake, red sand boa, common sand boa, dog-faced water snakes, common cat snake, common kukri snake, common bronzeback tree snake, annulated sea snake, common wolf snake, common vine snake, striped keelback, checkered keelback, olive keelback, common trinket snake, spectacled cobra, banded sea krait and hook-nosed sea snake. Crocodilian species include the gharial, marsh crocodile, saltwater crocodile, Siamese crocodile, African dwarf crocodile, Nile crocodile and spectacled caiman. Other reptiles at the park include water monitor, Bengal monitor, Indian black turtle, Indian flapshell turtle, Indian star tortoise, spotted rock gecko and South Asian chamaeleon. The snakes are housed in glass-fronted enclosures and the crocodilians and the larger lizards are housed in open-air enclosures protected by parapet walls and wire mesh. The park also has an aquarium for water snakes and turtles. All the enclosures have signages giving information in English and Tamil. On 16 January 2010, the country's first-of-its-kind Digital Infotainment–based visitors interpretation centre with static and electronically aided moving mode displays with information on snakes in English and Tamil, using six 32" LCD screens, was opened for public.