Chiang Mai Zoo, Chiang Mai

Chaing Mai Zoo is located at the bottom of Doi Suthep and as a result is frequently stopped at whilst waiting for taxis taking people up to the far more impressive Doi Suthep Wat. The reason we went is because we had a spare couple of hours after visting the temple and were curious to see what the Zoo would be like.

First impressions are good with a modern entrance surrounded by forests which are the main selling point of the location. ...
...the whole zoo slopes upwards and is covered by thick vegetation in places. If you don't mind walking then I would certainly recommend going alone and not taking the train around the park as there are many secluded parts of the park which you may miss. The cost of the park is reasonable but there are individual parts of the zoo which require an additional fee, such as the Panda enclosure.

Now the most important part of any zoo is its ... more

Chaing Mai Zoo is located at the bottom of Doi Suthep and as a result is frequently stopped at whilst waiting for taxis taking people up to the far more impressive Doi Suthep Wat. The reason we went is because we had a spare couple of hours after visting the temple and were curious to see what the Zoo would be like.

First impressions are good with a modern entrance surrounded by forests which are the main selling point of the location. As it is set at the bottom of the mountain the whole zoo slopes upwards and is covered by thick vegetation in places. If you don't mind walking then I would certainly recommend going alone and not taking the train around the park as there are many secluded parts of the park which you may miss. The cost of the park is reasonable but there are individual parts of the zoo which require an additional fee, such as the Panda enclosure.

Now the most important part of any zoo is its animals. You can tell alot about the quality of care for most animals by the body language. In all the cases the animals looked miserable without any signs of activity or energy. Alot of the animals were kept in small confined spaces without much room to move. We had the misfortune of going into one of the seal shows as it was starting as we walked past. This was a big mistake as the music was deafening (was it really necessary) and the smell meant we had to leave after a minute. I appreciate that there would be a fish smell around this area but it was clear that proper cleaning hadn't been done for a long time. The signs of mistreatment and a lack of care were evident throughout the zoo, which was clearly set up to make money with no regard for conservation. Thankfully this is not the case in alot of Western European zoo's now.

There is no way that I can recommend this zoo, it is clearly only interested in making money with no regard for the main attraction. The setting is great and it was nice to walk around, the forested areas. Even if you have spare hour or 2, use it to take a walk in the surrounding area or go back to the city centre as going to the zoo will be a huge disappointment. 

...less