Asian gems / unique species in Asian zoos

Sicarius

Sicarius

Well-Known Member
Hi all!
I'm planning a trip to South East Asia for about three weeks long, but I'm having a hard time deciding which zoos are the best to visit during this holiday. My interest is seeing as many new species as possible, so animal markets are the best place for that, in combination with some very rare local species that cannot be seen in other parks around the world. Because of the limited time I have, decisions need to be made on which countries or cities have the highest diversity of species and which animals are considered a lifetime experience.

Currently, I would say that only two locations are certain:
Singapore (where I will arrive from Europe). It has multiple parks with rare species like the reef manta ray, Philippine eagle, Santa Cruz ground dove, ghost sharks, green humphead parrotfish, hog badger, Sunda pangolin, Guianan red howler monkey, colugo and finally my first proboscis monkey.

Batu Secret zoo (Java): They still have the last long-beaked echidna, the main target of my trip. Then the park also has striped possums, Sumatran hog badger (still alive?), and from what I have heard a flat-headed cat behind the scenes. + Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark with lots of local songbirds and Javan small-toothed palm civets.


It would be very interesting to hear from all of you what places you recommend? I would love to see more local species like linsang, grizzled tree-kangaroo, tarsiers, cuscuses, etc. but the collections in Asia change so often and there is no such thing as Zootierliste in that part of the world. That's why I could use your input. So if anyone knows a place that is secretly hiding some bay cats or helmeted hornbills, please let me know haha! Other recommended places are very welcome!
 
aardvark250 said:
Taiping should still have marbled cat and Penang bird park could still have helmeted hornbill. (Not certain but they had them recently)
I think both Taman safari might got some nice species
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Unfortunately the last helmeted hornbill passed away. The marbled cat is also kept in the UK and Al Bustan that are both on my list for the upcoming years, so it's a less important species considering that the cage of Taiping is difficult for photography.
Does Taiping have any other gems? What rare stuff is still kept at the Taman Safari parks?
 
In 2020, I found a helmeted hornbill (rhinoplax vigil) in Wuzhou zoo in Wuzhou, Guangxi, China. Unfortunately, it died last year. @aardvark250
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Hi Jo Kuyken, I'd like to answer your question regarding the Indonesian collection. It's worth noting that some of the animals I mention could be put off display without notice by the time of your visit.

Jo Kuyken said:
Batu Secret zoo (Java): They still have the last long-beaked echidna, the main target of my trip. Then the park also has striped possums, Sumatran hog badger (still alive?), and from what I have heard a flat-headed cat behind the scenes. + Prigen Conservation Breeding Ark with lots of local songbirds and Javan small-toothed palm civets.
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The Sumatran hog badger is most probably still there. The animals in the Nocturnal House changed quite a lot, so I'm not able to keep on track with what's currently there. The echidna exhibit is vacant around September last year. If you want to learn more about Batu's collection, you would like to contact @Fajar, but I know that Batu has several interesting species on display.

Jo Kuyken said:
What rare stuff is still kept at the Taman Safari parks?
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In the park in Cisarua, they keep Bawean deer, both supspecies of sun bears, European bison, bird-of-paradise (Lesser, red, and twelve-wired), Siberut macaque, Javan leopard, Asian golden cat, Javan hawk-eagle, grizzled tree-kangaroo, Müller's gibbon, proboscis monkey, surili (Javan and mitered), slow loris (Javan and Sunda), Sulawesi dwarf cuscus, Balinese subspecies of the Asian palm civet, and large bamboo rat.

In the park in Prigen, they keep European bison, markhor, Javan warty pig, Javan leopard, proboscis monkey, maleo, and common wombat.
 
Thank you both for the answers!
Interesting to see that a helmeted hornbill made it to a Chinese zoo, too bad that it didn't survive. I'm sure there are a few more around in captivity, but tracking them is the hardest part.

Thank you @Nandito for the list of species in Bogor. When did you last visit this location? I was not aware of the mitered surili and Sulawesi dwarf cuscus in the collection. That's great news and I certainly hope to see both these species during my visit!

Important to mention is that I'm from Europe myself, meaning that markhor and European bison are very common animals here. Still glad to see that there are some places in Asia that present these to the public.
 
Greetings everyone!

I was curious if anybody has information pertaining to the continued presence of these species at the Melaka Butterfly & Reptile Sanctuary:

Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana)
Malayan Fire Snail (Platymma tweediei)
Sulawesi Forest Turtle (Leucocephalon yuwonoi)

I had personally emailed the institute in Melayu, as I was keen to visit them later this year. But sadly, I’ve not received any response over the last few months.

I would appreciate any updates :)
 
Jo Kuyken said:
Singapore (where I will arrive from Europe). It has multiple parks with rare species like the reef manta ray, Philippine eagle, Santa Cruz ground dove, ghost sharks, green humphead parrotfish, hog badger, Sunda pangolin, Guianan red howler monkey, colugo and finally my first proboscis monkey.
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Does S.E.A. Aquarium still have Green Humphead Parrotfish??
 
Jo Kuyken said:
Yes, they have many. They die all the time but the aquarium just gets new ones. That's what I heard, at least.
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Parrotfish just don't thrive without a lot of extra care - which they're clearly not getting here. Real pity for the endangered species in question here.
 
Great Argus said:
Parrotfish just don't thrive without a lot of extra care - which they're clearly not getting here. Real pity for the endangered species in question here.
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Note the caveat in that post - "that's what I heard at least".
 
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