A Foray into Formosa: A look into the zoos of Taiwan

P

Pigeon

Member
Introduction
2023 has been a great year for Zoochat and zoo nerds in general. What with the opening of Bird Paradise, a number of high quality new exhibits such as Houston's Galapagos complex and Wilhelma's Terra Australis, as well as a number of great threads posted on this site, it cannot be argued that 2023 was not exciting. However, 2023 was a fairly stressful year for me as I had an increased workload. As such, I decided to plan an overseas zoo trip to take a break.

Given the sweltering tropical heat of Singapore, I decided to head somewhere cooler...Somewhere like Taiwan. I have visited Taiwan once, back in 2017, where I visited Taipei Zoo and the National Aquarium. So you might be wondering: "Why go back then?" Well, at the time I wasn't into rarities and as such did not appreciate the ones that I saw much. So this visit was aimed at giving another look at the zoos I visited from a new perspective. I also aim to give this relatively unknown country (in the zoo world anyway) some representation on the site.

I will be reviewing four facilities in a walkthrough style-those four facilities being Taipei Zoo, Xpark Aquarium, Jojozoo Bird Park and Jingyuan Farm and Leisure Park (with exotics, I promise!). I would also like to apologise for the poor quality of the photos that I will be including in this review. With that said and done, please enjoy watching me make questionable decisions as I tour you through the zoos of Taiwan :).
 
Pigeon said:
Introduction
2023 has been a great year for Zoochat and zoo nerds in general. What with the opening of Bird Paradise, a number of high quality new exhibits such as Houston's Galapagos complex and Wilhelma's Terra Australis, as well as a number of great threads posted on this site, it cannot be argued that 2023 was not exciting. However, 2023 was a fairly stressful year for me as I had an increased workload. As such, I decided to plan an overseas zoo trip to take a break.

Given the sweltering tropical heat of Singapore, I decided to head somewhere cooler...Somewhere like Taiwan. I have visited Taiwan once, back in 2017, where I visited Taipei Zoo and the National Aquarium. So you might be wondering: "Why go back then?" Well, at the time I wasn't into rarities and as such did not appreciate the ones that I saw much. So this visit was aimed at giving another look at the zoos I visited from a new perspective. I also aim to give this relatively unknown country (in the zoo world anyway) some representation on the site.

I will be reviewing four facilities in a walkthrough style-those four facilities being Taipei Zoo, Xpark Aquarium, Jojozoo Bird Park and Jingyuan Farm and Leisure Park (with exotics, I promise!). I would also like to apologise for the poor quality of the photos that I will be including in this review. With that said and done, please enjoy watching me make questionable decisions as I tour you through the zoos of Taiwan :).
Click to expand...
Really excited to see how your opinion of Xpark and Jojo are ,since they are relatively new zoos opened in the last few years. Never heard of the last one but im not surprised they may got some fun species (I know some "farms" in taiwan got tamandua, bird of paradise etc.) Same as you i've been to taipei zoo in 2017 but havent visit since. its a zoo thats been keep rising and a zoo i'm sure i'll go back soon enough :D.
 
Alright, let's start off with a species list! This might be a little inaccurate as I did not take photos of every sign in the Reptile House, so hopefully a regular like @ISAO can correct me. Each line indicates a separate exhibit and unseen animals are in italics. Due to time constraints, I did not visit the South American portion of the Tropical Rainforest exhibit complex, so thanks to @albertonykus for listing the species in his review of the new expansion.

Entrance Pond
  • Greater Flamingo
  • Lar Gibbon, Reeve's Muntjac, Swan Goose
Formosan Animals
  • Formosan Reeve's Muntjac (2 exhibits)
  • Formosan Sika, Formosan Sambar
  • Formosan Wild Boar
  • Swinhoe's Pheasant, Yellow-Margined Box Turtle
  • Clouded Leopard
  • Formosan Leopard Cat
  • Formosan Black Bear
  • Eurasian Otter
  • Formosan Serow
  • Formosan Rock Monkey
  • Formosan Pangolin
  • Formosan Pangolin, Gem-faced Civet
  • Chinese Ferret Badger
Insectarium
  • Lanyu Giant Walking Stick Insect (Phasmotaenia Lanyuhensis)
  • Pachyrhynchine Weevil (Pachyrhynchus sarcitis kotoensis)
  • Tsuda Phasmid (Megacrania tsudai)
  • Formosan Long-fanged Stag Beetle (Dorcus schenkingi)
  • Formosan Atlas Moth (Attacus atlas formosanus)
  • Common Mormon (Papilio polytes pasikrates)
  • Common Duffer (Discophora sondaica tulliana)-2 exhibits
  • Glassy Tiger (Parantica aglea maghaba)
  • Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus)
  • Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber barcine)
  • White Edged Blue Baron (Euthalia phemius)
  • Great Mormon ( Papilio mormon heronus)
  • Formosan Common Jester (Symbrenthia lilae formosanus)
  • Free Flying Butterflies: Lime Butterfly, Chinese Peacock, Paris Peacock, Great Mormon, Common Rose, Tree Nymph, Orange-edged White, Liuchiou Blue Spotted Milkweed Butterfly, Purple Emperor, Plain Tiger, Yellow Coaster, Staff Sergeant, Blue Tiger, Orange Oak Leaf
  • Firefly Larvae (Aquatica ficta)
  • Water Bug (Diplorhynchus rusticus)
  • Water Scorpion (Laccotrephes robustus)
  • Diving Beetle (Cybister rugostus)
  • Water Walking Stick (Ranatra longipipes longipipes)
  • Malayan Jungle Nymph (Heteropteryx dilatata)
  • Bud-wing Stick Insect (Phaenopharos khaoyaiensis)
  • Leaf Insect (Phyllium tobeloense)
  • Luzon Stick Insect (Sungaya inexpecta)
  • Dorcus titanus sika
  • Giant Asian Mantis (Hierodula patellifera)
  • Prosopocoilus motschulskii
  • Malaysian Bush Cricket (Mecopoda elongata)
  • Beetle Cockroach (Ergaula capucina)
  • Field Cricket (Gryllus bimaculatus)
  • Dairy Cow Isopod (Porcellio laevis)
  • Emperor Scorpion
  • Mexican Redknee Tarantula
  • Camponotus siesseni
  • Camponotus albosparsus
  • Aphaenogaster tipuna
  • Ectomyrmex javanica
Pangolin Dome
  • Free-roamers: Cottontop Tamarin, Linne's Two-toed Sloth, Great Argus, Palawan Peacock Pheasant, Great Curassow, Scarlet Ibis, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Red-footed Tortoise, Yellow-footed Tortoise, Burmese Star Tortoise, Radiated Tortoise
  • Toco Toucan
  • Fat-tailed Dwarf Lemur
  • Southern Bolivian Night Monkey
  • Pygmy Slow Loris
  • Aye-aye
  • Amazon Tank: Arapaima, Red-bellied Pacu, Peacock Bass, Xingu River Ray, various cichlids, Altum Angelfish, Jullien's Golden Carp
  • Blue-and-Yellow Macaw
  • Golden Poison Dart Frog, Dyeing Poison Dart Frog
  • Satanas Beetle (Dynastes satanas)
  • Death's Head Cockroach (Blaberus craniifer)
  • Six-spotted Roach (Eublaberus distanii)
  • Tlitocatl subulosus
  • Peruphasma schultei
  • Diapherodes giganten
Tropical Rainforest
  • Black-capped Squirrel Monkey
  • Tomistoma, Painted Batagur
  • White-faced Capuchin
  • Capybara, Black Handed Spider Monkey
  • Giant Anteater
  • Asian Small Clawed Otter
  • Malayan Tapir
  • Unstriped Tamandua
  • Siamang, Bornean Orangutan
  • Marsh Mongoose
  • Laughing Kookaburra
  • Malayan Tapir, Lar Gibbon, Reeve's Muntjac
  • North Chinese Leopard
  • Sun Bear
  • Great Hornbill
  • Asian Elephant
  • Generic Tiger
  • Asian Small Clawed Otter
  • Black Swan
Desert Animals
  • Addax, Somali Wild Ass
  • Bactrian Camel
  • Dromedary
Australian Animals
  • Eastern Grey Kangaroo
  • Emu
  • Southern Cassowary
  • Koala (off exhibit)
African Animals
  • Reticulated Giraffe
  • Chapman's Zebra, Beisa Oryx
  • Common Eland
  • Pygmy Hippopotamus
  • Common Hippopotamus
  • African Spurred Tortoise
  • Lion
  • White Rhinoceros
  • Patas Monkey
  • Western Lowland Gorilla
  • Chimpanzee
  • Barbary Sheep
  • Bongo
  • Olive Baboon
  • White Rhinoceros
  • Ring-tailed Lemur, Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur, Common Brown Lemur
  • Spotted Hyena
  • African Elephant
Temperate Zone Animals
  • Przewalski's Wild Horse
  • American Bison
  • Eurasian Lynx
  • Puma
  • Asian Black Bear
  • Chinese Red Panda
  • Brown Bear
  • African Penguin
  • King Penguin
  • American Beaver
  • Asian Small Clawed Otter
  • Grey Wolf
  • Red-eared Slider, White-breasted Waterhen
Reptile House
  • Chinese striped-necked turtle, Asian yellow pond turtle, Red-eared slider, Chinese softshell turtle
  • Aldabra Giant Tortoise
  • African Spurred Tortoise
  • Alligator Snapping Turtle, Common Snapping Turtle
  • Red-footed Tortoise
  • Cane Toad
  • Common Boa
  • Taiwan Beauty Ratsnake
  • Golden Poison Dart Frog, Dyeing Poison Dart Frog, Yellow Banded Poison Dart frog, Green-and-Black Poison Dart Frog, Blessed Poison Dart Frog
  • Long-nosed Horned Toad
  • Mossy Frog
  • Panther Chameleon
  • Sumatran Short-tailed Python
  • Monkey Tailed Skink
  • Ball Python
  • Veiled Chameleon
  • Green Tree Python
  • Box Turtle (unsure of species, photo of sign was blurry)
  • Chinese Water Dragon
  • Double-crested Basilisk
  • Axolotl
  • Budgett's Frog
  • Black Tegu
  • Indian Star Tortoise
  • Burmese Star Tortoise
  • Annam Pond Turtle
  • Spur-thighed Tortoise
  • Common Box Turtle
  • Central Asian Tortoise
  • Pueblan Milk Snake
  • Florida Kingsnake
  • Spiny Turtle
  • Carpet Python
  • Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake
  • Leopard Tortoise
  • European Glass Lizard
  • Chinese Alligator
  • Eastern Blue Tongued Lizard
  • Gila Monster
  • California Kingsnake
  • Central Beaded Lizard
  • Savannah Monitor
  • Centralian Rough Knob-tailed Gecko
  • Rhinoceros Iguana
  • Yellow Throated Plated Lizard
  • Radiated Tortoise
  • Leopard Gecko
  • Western Hognose Snake
  • Ocellated Lizard
  • Rough Throated Plated Lizard
  • Emerald Green Tree Frog
  • Tokay Gecko, Veiled Chameleon
  • Green Iguana
  • Olive Frog, Gunther's Frog, Rice Field Frog, Latouchte's Frog
  • Fujian Large Headed Frog, Swinhoe's Frog, Central Formosan Toad, Greater Green Snake
  • Hundred-pace Viper
  • Chinese Cobra
  • Yellow Margined Tortoise
  • Burmese Python
  • Elongated Tortoise, Green Iguana
  • Asian Brown Tortoise, Green Iguana
Bird World
  • Red-Crowned Crane
  • Brown Wood Owl
  • Tawny Fish Owl
  • Marabou Stork
  • Brahminy Kite
  • Hodgson's Hawk Eagle
  • Crested Serpent Eagle
  • Large Aviary 1: Javan Myna, Pied Imperial Pigeon, Oriental Turtle Dove, Black-faced Spoonbill, Deimoiselle Crane, Black Crowned Crane, Indian Peafowl, Nicobar Pigeon, Great Argus, Scarlet Ibis, Wood Duck, Western Crowned Pigeon, Crested Pigeon, Silver Pheasant, Taiwan Barbet
  • Large Aviary 2: Greater Flamingo, Chilean Flamingo, Egyptian Goose, Common Moorhen, Great White Pelican, Black-Necked Swan, Grey Crowned Crane, White Breasted Waterhen
  • Swinhoe's Pheasant, Taiwan Blue Magpie
  • Mikado Pheasant
  • Taiwan Ring-necked Pheasant, Crested Myna
  • Vietnam Pheasant
  • Palawan Peacock Pheasant, Bali Myna
  • Great Curassow, Violet Turaco
  • Green Turaco, Victoria Crowned Pigeon
  • Sarus Crane
  • Grey Crowned Crane
  • Black Crowned Crane
  • Deimoiselle Crane
  • White-Naped Crane
  • Hooded Crane
  • Rose-ringed Parakeet, Blue-and-Yellow Macaw, Palm Cockatoo, White Cockatoo, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Congo Grey Parrot, Eclectus Parrot, Blue Fronted Amazon
Panda House
  • Giant Panda
Koala House
  • Queensland Koala
Finally done! Wanted to do a total-up but after seeing the number of species in the Insectarium and Reptile House, I gave up:p
 
Dang, forgot to add in the species in the Children's Zoo...:oops:
Children's Zoo
  • Domestic Chicken,
  • Domestic Duck, Domestic Goose
  • Lanyu Pig (heritage breed)
  • Alpaca
  • Raccoon
  • Kinkajou
  • South-American Coati
  • Ring-Tailed Lemur, Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur, Common Brown Lemur, Grey Crowned Crane
  • Pony, Domestic Donkey
  • Meerkat
 
I've been a little busy lately, so apologies for the lack of reviews (still thinking of what to write!). I'll crank out the species lists first though as they are easier.

Jojozoo Bird Park Species List

Entrance Cages
  • Yellow-Crowned Parrot, Yellow Naped Amazon, Blue Fronted Amazon
  • Laughing Kookaburra
Misc. Exhibits
  • Red Squirrel (ssp exalbidus), Indian Giant Flying Squirrel (ssp grandis)
  • Domestic Sheep , Domestic Chicken, Domestic Rabbit
  • Formosan Sika, Formosan Reeve's Muntjac
  • Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo
  • Great Argus
  • Greater Rhea
Large Walkthrough Aviary
  • Sarus Crane
  • Deimoiselle Crane
  • Grey Crowned Crane
  • Greater Flamingo
  • White Stork
  • Black Swan
  • Mute Swan
  • Trumpeter Swan
More Misc. Exhibits
  • Laughing Kookaburra
  • Galah
  • Alexandrine Parakeet
  • Papuan/Blyth's Hornbill
  • Common Ostrich
  • Violet Turaco, Grey Peacock Pheasant
  • Toco Toucan, Reeve's Pheasant
  • Toco Toucan
  • Keel-Billed Toucan, Bornean Crested Fireback
  • Yellow-throated Toucan, Siamese Fireback
Walkthrough Waterfowl Aviary
  • Scarlet Ibis
  • Pink-Backed Pelican
  • Wood Duck (many colour morphs)
  • Mandarin Duck
  • Common Stilt
  • Domestic Duck
Toucan Walkthrough
  • Red-Billed Toucan
  • Jungle Crow
  • Indian Peafowl
  • Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Lorikeet/Parrot Walkthrough
  • Rainbow Lorikeet
  • Sun Conure
  • Black-Capped Lorikeet
Children's Zoo
  • Bennett's Wallaby, Tammar Wallaby
  • Domestic Donkey, Pony
  • Chestnut-Eared Aracari
  • Domestic Pigeon, Crested Pigeon
  • Himalayan Marmot, Domestic Rabbit
  • Alpaca
  • Meerkat
  • Fallow Deer
  • Domestic Goat
Even More Misc. Exhibits
  • Valais Blacknose
  • Bornean Crestless Fireback
  • Indian Peafowl, Domestic Chicken
  • Binturong
  • Silver Fox
 
One last edit for Taipei's species list...
  • Taipei has no Marsh Mongoose, they have Crab-Eating Mongoose. A silly brain fart on my part, given the fact that the area was once called Asian Tropical Rainforest and Marsh Mongooses are from Africa.
  • I also forgot about one exhibit in the Tropical Rainforest area. There is a small cage for Golden-headed Lion Tamarin and Common Marmoset there.
 
Jingyuan Farm and Leisure Park
  • Common Hippopotamus
  • Lar Gibbon, Green Iguana
  • Mute Swan
  • Rainbow Lorikeet
  • Capybara, Sulcata Tortoise, Domestic Duck
  • Meerkat
  • Domestic Sheep, Domestic Goat, Alpaca, Formosan Sika
  • Greater Flamingo
  • Hyacinth Macaw
  • Toco Toucan, Grey Crowned Crane
  • Papuan/Blyth's Hornbill
I will not be doing a species list for Xpark because signage was frustratingly sparse and the fact that they were all electronic and rotating made it worse.
 
Pigeon said:
I've been a little busy lately, so apologies for the lack of reviews (still thinking of what to write!). I'll crank out the species lists first though as they are easier.

Jojozoo Bird Park Species List

Entrance Cages
  • Yellow-Crowned Parrot, Yellow Naped Amazon, Blue Fronted Amazon
  • Laughing Kookaburra
Misc. Exhibits
  • Red Squirrel (ssp exalbidus), Indian Giant Flying Squirrel (ssp grandis)
  • Domestic Sheep , Domestic Chicken, Domestic Rabbit
  • Formosan Sika, Formosan Reeve's Muntjac
  • Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo
  • Great Argus
  • Greater Rhea
Large Walkthrough Aviary
  • Sarus Crane
  • Deimoiselle Crane
  • Grey Crowned Crane
  • Greater Flamingo
  • White Stork
  • Black Swan
  • Mute Swan
  • Trumpeter Swan
More Misc. Exhibits
  • Laughing Kookaburra
  • Galah
  • Alexandrine Parakeet
  • Papuan/Blyth's Hornbill
  • Common Ostrich
  • Violet Turaco, Grey Peacock Pheasant
  • Toco Toucan, Reeve's Pheasant
  • Toco Toucan
  • Keel-Billed Toucan, Bornean Crested Fireback
  • Yellow-throated Toucan, Siamese Fireback
Walkthrough Waterfowl Aviary
  • Scarlet Ibis
  • Pink-Backed Pelican
  • Wood Duck (many colour morphs)
  • Mandarin Duck
  • Common Stilt
  • Domestic Duck
Toucan Walkthrough
  • Red-Billed Toucan
  • Jungle Crow
  • Indian Peafowl
  • Lady Amherst's Pheasant
Lorikeet/Parrot Walkthrough
  • Rainbow Lorikeet
  • Sun Conure
  • Black-Capped Lorikeet
Children's Zoo
  • Bennett's Wallaby, Tammar Wallaby
  • Domestic Donkey, Pony
  • Chestnut-Eared Aracari
  • Domestic Pigeon, Crested Pigeon
  • Himalayan Marmot, Domestic Rabbit
  • Alpaca
  • Meerkat
  • Fallow Deer
  • Domestic Goat
Even More Misc. Exhibits
  • Valais Blacknose
  • Bornean Crestless Fireback
  • Indian Peafowl, Domestic Chicken
  • Binturong
  • Silver Fox
Click to expand...
Wow, I didn't know there is still a facility having Araçari and Borean Crestless Fireback, Yellow-throated Toucan in my home country. Thanks for your informatons!
 
@ISAO : No problem :). I actually did not realise those species were so rare in Taiwan, given the fact that all but the toucan are held in Bird Paradise.

@others: Jingyuan review up soon...
 
In the spirit of counting down gor the new year, I've decided to start reviewing the later zoos first. Well, not really...in truth I'm way too lazy to finish up the behemoth of a review for Taipei. Anyway...

Zoo #4: Jingyuan Farm and Leisure Park

This was a completely unplanned visit given the fact that I have never heard of this place before. Given the fact that some of these "farms" in Taiwan have rarities like Birds-of-Paradise, I said " Why not? I should take a look!"

This little place is located on the outskirts of Kaohsiung, near the airport. As soon as I entered the park, I was greeted with the sight of a pair of common hippos (1.1) in a tiny paddock. Don't ask me how they got the pachyderms-I am not familiar with the private trade, but in any case, the exhibit was way too small for one, let alone two hippos. As for the land to water ratio, it seemed about equal to me.

The water in the hippo exhibit seemed to flow into the moat of the next exhibit, an island for a Lar Gibbon (0.1). It was a small exhibit, with only a climbing frame and lacked any vegetation. Checking a care manual guide for Lars, this exhibit clearly did not meet the requirement for being longer than wide. Its holding cages were also incredibly small and low. Personally, I felt that this island could be better utilised for a smaller species, like squirrel monkeys or a callitrichid of some sort. If the park wished to continue with their gibbon, they could use another separate holding space, not on the island.

Past the starting two exhibits stood a crappy cage for Rainbow Lorikeets with just a single branch and zero enrichment for the 20 plus intelligent birds which were just climbing and chewing on the bars. Awful!

This place also has all the zoo-nerd "favourites" with capybara (my personal favourite), meerkat, ring-tailed lemur and spurred tortoises. Normally, I do not stop to watch meerkats, but on this occasion, someone's phone dropped into their exhibit and a keeper had to retrieve it. It was entertaining to see the interactions between the meerkats and keepers, with the animals scratching at the keeper's boots as if they wanted food. As for the lemur cage, it was by far the best exhibit in the park. Lush, and with ample space for the prosimians to move about.

And then came the infamous (to zoo-nerds anyway) contact yard, full of domestics ready to pester you for food. To shake things up a little, I decided to buy some animal feed...yeah, given the above description, I think you can see where this is going... Upon seeing that I had food, the goats, alpacas and sheep came straight for me, and boy were they boisterous! To get away from the horde of barnyard animals, I had to do what I will call "parkour" and skedaddled off. Fortunately, I managed to finish off the feed, but even then, the goats were still badgering me. Well, mental note to self, never visit domestic contact yards ever again.

In this area was where the majority of the park's birds were held. There was a pool for flamingoes, and aviaries for Papuan Hornbill, Hyacinth Macaw, Toucan and Grey Crowned Crane. Interestingly enough, toucans, along with capybaras were housed in all the four facilities I visited. And with that, I was done and dusted with this park in about an hour.

Thoughts and Conclusion

Well, first review done! All in all, I though that Jingyuan was a pretty interesting and well maintained place, with some rarities for a smaller collection. However, they really need to stop keeping hippos and replace them with a smaller, more suitable species. We will travel up north to an area a little further from Taichung, to visit Jojozoo Bird Park, IMO the biggest disappointment of the trip...
 
Pigeon said:
@ISAO : No problem :). I actually did not realise those species were so rare in Taiwan, given the fact that all but the toucan are held in Bird Paradise.

@others: Jingyuan review up soon...
Click to expand...
Would you please upload photos you've taken in Taiwanese facilities? I would love to see it.
 
ISAO said:
Would you please upload photos you've taken in Taiwanese facilities? I would love to see it.
Click to expand...

Yes, I will upload photos to the gallery once I am able to. I don't have many shots of animals in particular, as they are mostly exhibit photos. :)
 
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