The Zoological Park in Kanpur, (Cawnpore), (known as the Manchester of Asia in the British colonial period) was the brainchild of a botanist Sir Allen, a member of the British Indian Civil Service. Sir Allen wanted to open the zoo in a natural forest, but his plans were stuck in bureaucratic red-tape and did not materialize. When the zoo at last opened in 1971 by the government of independent India, it was named after him.
Allen forest was developed during the British rule between the years 1913-1918 by George Burney Allen, a famous British industrialist of Kanpur on the banks of the river Ganges. The zoo was constructed from 1971-1973. The first animal to arrive at the zoo was an otter caught by a fisherman from the Chambal River.
In 1975, the first appointed doctor of the zoo was Dr. Ashwani Kumar Tripathi, who graduated from the G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences. Dr. Tripathi contributed to efforts in introducing modern technology to keep the animals healthy. The enclosures for animals and birds were designed on the latest trends in the field of zoo building technology, well spread along the lake on either side of a semicircular arterial road of about 9 km. length.
The current director of the zoo is Mr Mukesh Kumar (1987 Batch,IFS )