Although I have already spent two years in Jilin Province, northeast China, to work for WWF’s leopard and tiger program, it is hard to find a free time in Changchun City, the capital of Jilin Province, until this month, and finally get a chance to visit Changchun Zoo.
The Changchun Zoo had closed for reconstruction the whole last year, and even now the reconstruction hasn’t finished. It is a very “ordinary” zoo, which means, there isn’t exciting exhibition, but on the other side, you won’t find terrible exhibition, too; it has all the main animals that a big zoo should have: pachyderms, apes, big cats, but there isn’t any peculiar northeast Asian species inside it, such as Amur leopard, long-tailed goral, wolverine, sable, Siberian musk deer, moose, Asian badger, Amur yellow-throated marten and so on.
The most spectacular exhibition, in my opinion, is the “Big carnivore valley”; it is built on a hill, and is divided into five lush vegetated, huge enclosures to keep Siberian tigers, lions, wolves, Asian black bears and brown bears. A walkway, with glass-wall on each side, extends along a valley inside the hill, between the enclosures.
There is also a separate big cat exhibition, which is built several years ago; the Siberian tigers, white tigers and white lions are separated from the visitors by a moat, which I think is too narrow to keep the big cats from jumping out. The leopard, lynx and Cape hunting dogs are kept in smaller enclosures, a litter bigger than the leopard cages in Beijing Zoo, with glass-wall in the front and vegetation inside. What makes me disappointed is the leopards they exhibit, aren’t Amur leopard, but are North Chinese leopards and melanic South Chinese leopards.
The small carnivore exhibition is really a surprise, and a lovely place. They even exhibit meerkats and oriental small-clawed otters, two species that rarely exhibit in Chinese zoos. The meerkats are kept in a big outdoor enclosure surrounding by glass-walls, with sandy ground. The oriental small-clawed otters are also kept in a similar big outdoor enclosure, with pool and land inside it. The red fox, Arctic fox, raccoon dog and mink are kept in smaller out-door enclosures with glass-walls in front.
The Polar Animal House exhibits polar bear, South American fur-seals, spotted seals and penguins, every species has an in-door and a out-door pool, with under-water viewing glass-windows. But the water in the pools is dirty, and the enclosure for the polar bear is too small.
The monkey house is a building with several glass-in-front cages, and inside the cages are toys, shelves and logs for the animals. Any surprise is the lesser white-nosed guenons, which is also a species that rarely seen in Chinese zoos. The squirrel monkeys are kept in another bigger out-door enclosure, with more lush vegetation. The Ape House has only chimpanzees now, but it is said the zoo decides to import gorilla soon. The apes’ lush out-door enclosure is surrounded by a moat. The ring-tailed lemurs are kept in an island.
The Asian elephants, white rhinoceros, hippo, giraffes have big-enough enclosures; the zebra and ostriches are kept together. A trestle extends across the Ungulate Free-ranging Area, which exhibits bharals, Barbary sheep, elands, llamas, Pere David’s deer, red deer, sika deer and fallow deer.
The porcupines are kept out-door. Three species of kangaroos have huge enclosures. The red panda enclosure is still under construction.
The cranes, which including endangered white crane and white-hooded crane, are kept in a huge aviary. The pelicans and other smaller birds are kept in another huge aviary. The flamingos has their own aviary.
The Changchun Zoo had closed for reconstruction the whole last year, and even now the reconstruction hasn’t finished. It is a very “ordinary” zoo, which means, there isn’t exciting exhibition, but on the other side, you won’t find terrible exhibition, too; it has all the main animals that a big zoo should have: pachyderms, apes, big cats, but there isn’t any peculiar northeast Asian species inside it, such as Amur leopard, long-tailed goral, wolverine, sable, Siberian musk deer, moose, Asian badger, Amur yellow-throated marten and so on.
The most spectacular exhibition, in my opinion, is the “Big carnivore valley”; it is built on a hill, and is divided into five lush vegetated, huge enclosures to keep Siberian tigers, lions, wolves, Asian black bears and brown bears. A walkway, with glass-wall on each side, extends along a valley inside the hill, between the enclosures.
There is also a separate big cat exhibition, which is built several years ago; the Siberian tigers, white tigers and white lions are separated from the visitors by a moat, which I think is too narrow to keep the big cats from jumping out. The leopard, lynx and Cape hunting dogs are kept in smaller enclosures, a litter bigger than the leopard cages in Beijing Zoo, with glass-wall in the front and vegetation inside. What makes me disappointed is the leopards they exhibit, aren’t Amur leopard, but are North Chinese leopards and melanic South Chinese leopards.
The small carnivore exhibition is really a surprise, and a lovely place. They even exhibit meerkats and oriental small-clawed otters, two species that rarely exhibit in Chinese zoos. The meerkats are kept in a big outdoor enclosure surrounding by glass-walls, with sandy ground. The oriental small-clawed otters are also kept in a similar big outdoor enclosure, with pool and land inside it. The red fox, Arctic fox, raccoon dog and mink are kept in smaller out-door enclosures with glass-walls in front.
The Polar Animal House exhibits polar bear, South American fur-seals, spotted seals and penguins, every species has an in-door and a out-door pool, with under-water viewing glass-windows. But the water in the pools is dirty, and the enclosure for the polar bear is too small.
The monkey house is a building with several glass-in-front cages, and inside the cages are toys, shelves and logs for the animals. Any surprise is the lesser white-nosed guenons, which is also a species that rarely seen in Chinese zoos. The squirrel monkeys are kept in another bigger out-door enclosure, with more lush vegetation. The Ape House has only chimpanzees now, but it is said the zoo decides to import gorilla soon. The apes’ lush out-door enclosure is surrounded by a moat. The ring-tailed lemurs are kept in an island.
The Asian elephants, white rhinoceros, hippo, giraffes have big-enough enclosures; the zebra and ostriches are kept together. A trestle extends across the Ungulate Free-ranging Area, which exhibits bharals, Barbary sheep, elands, llamas, Pere David’s deer, red deer, sika deer and fallow deer.
The porcupines are kept out-door. Three species of kangaroos have huge enclosures. The red panda enclosure is still under construction.
The cranes, which including endangered white crane and white-hooded crane, are kept in a huge aviary. The pelicans and other smaller birds are kept in another huge aviary. The flamingos has their own aviary.
