Chengdu Zoo, 29 December 2024
Including all species seen and signed.
I was last at the Chengdu Zoo in 2013. It is still broadly similar. See that review here: visit to Chengdu Zoo, 15 November 2013 [Chengdu Zoo]
Map of the zoo. This is one of the map-boards dotted around the zoo, a bit more up to date than the map on the back of the ticket which is more similar to the map they had in 2013. In the centre of the map-board is a construction symbol whereas on the ticket-map this spot has an Orangutan symbol. I thought this meant they were building a new Orangutan enclosure here, but the 2013 map also had the same Orangutan symbol.
…………………………………………………………………
MAMMALS:
A mixed bag of enclosures for mammals at the zoo.
Primates were the most mixed. The Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys had a large planted enclosure, as did all the apes although I suspect the Chimpanzees and Orangutan don’t really use their enclosures. Most of the other monkeys were in two blocks of cages - the prison-yard style ones for (mostly) baboons and Mandrills; and the concrete ones for guenons and macaques. The former enclosures look awful but they are reasonably big (not actually big, but not too small either), are tall (viewing is from two levels), all have lots of climbing structures, they are mesh-roofed, and some of them are planted. The macaque cages are really bad and I had hoped they might have been demolished already. The guenon cages are sort of halfway between - they are fairly big, with an area at the front for plants, but are otherwise just concrete cages.
The Big Cats all had glass-fronted planted enclosures which were okay. There was a row of small bleak cages behind the Leopards (formerly the indoor enclosures for those) housing Leopard Cat, Masked Palm Civet, and Raccoon. Otherwise the small mammals were reasonably housed in planted enclosures which were fine. The bear pits were the same as in 2013 - not the greatest but better than just blank concrete pits.
The deer and antelope yards were fine, although not large. Hippos had very small enclosures (just a pool and a small concrete land area). Indoor viewing was present for the larger mammals (e.g. giraffes, elephants, rhinos).
Ring-tailed Lemur (did not see)
Collins’ Squirrel Monkey (as signed - this is a split from the Common Squirrel Monkey, but I wouldn’t be able to say if the identification of the sign is accurate)
Black-capped Capuchin
Golden Snub-nosed Monkey
Francois’ Langur
Red-tailed Guenon (two animals)
De Brazza’s Monkey (one, sharing its cage with the Northern Pig-tailed Macaque)
Green Monkey (four enclosures - all were labelled as “Green Monkey” but two enclosures were signed with the scientific name Cercopithecus aethiops and two with Cercopithecus sabaeus - I don’t know if they are all the same or if they actually have both species)
Rhesus Macaque
Japanese Macaque
Crab-eating Macaque
Tibetan Macaque
Stump-tailed Macaque
Northern Pig-tailed Macaque (one, sharing its cage with the De Brazza’s Monkey)
Olive Baboon
Hamadryas Baboon
Mandrill
Buff-cheeked Gibbon
Orangutan (one male, unspecified to species)
Chimpanzee (two individuals, in separate enclosures)
South Chinese Tiger
Siberian Tiger
African Lion
White Lion
Leopard (spotted and black in separate enclosures)
Jaguar
Eurasian Lynx
Leopard Cat (did not see)
Grey Wolf
Fennec Fox
Raccoon Dog (white)
Brown Bear
Tibetan Blue Bear
Asiatic Black Bear
Sun Bear
Giant Panda
Red Panda (enclosure blocked by construction fencing)
Small-clawed Otter
Meerkat (two enclosures in separate areas of the zoo)
Masked Palm Civet
Common Raccoon (two enclosures in separate areas of the zoo)
Cape Fur Seal (one)
Spotted Seal (three)
Asian Elephant
Pony
Plains Zebra
White Rhinoceros
Common Hippopotamus
Giraffe
Alpaca
Llama
Bactrian Camel
Sichuan Takin
Mouflon (unsigned in a yard labelled for Fallow Deer [not the white Fallow Deer which were in a different yard])
Bharal (Blue Sheep) (in two yards)
Blackbuck (in a mixed yard with Bharal)
Eland
Scimitar-horned Oryx (as per the sign but they look like hybrids)
Tufted Deer
Hog Deer
Sika
Sambar
Wapiti
Pere David’s Deer
Fallow Deer (white)
Chinese Crested Porcupine
Capybara
Mara
[Black-tailed Prairie Dogs were signed but the burrows in the enclosure all looked old, and there was a Capybara in the indoor part of the enclosure]
[There was signage for Himalayan Marmot (and footage of marmots playing on a screen elsewhere in the zoo) but the enclosure held Mara - it is winter though, so they may have them in hibernation]
BIRDS:
The birds at the zoo are mostly housed in the southeast wing of the zoo apart for the ratites in the northeast by the elephants.
The southeast corner of the zoo (formerly the Childrens Zoo area) is where the penguins and Blue Peafowl are housed.
The wading birds are, apart for the cranes and storks, housed in large aviaries alongside the lake (for pelicans and swans). The Green Peafowl and Golden Pheasants are also in these aviaries. The hybrid ibis x spoonbills of my 2013 visit are no longer present.
The parrots are all housed in one large block of aviaries, with a large mixed aviary in the centre. The hornbills and touracos aviaries are also here.
The walk-through aviary also includes a row of glass-fronted aviaries for the cranes and storks. The walk-through itself is now almost empty of zoo birds (it was well-stocked with passerines in 2013), probably because the chain curtains which act as doors do not look very effective and at least some chains were tied back for visitors to come through unobstructed. The only definite zoo birds I saw inside were a group of Hill Mynahs, Mandarin Ducks, Golden Pheasants, and a melanistic Ring-necked Pheasant. Additional birds seen in the walk-through aviary which were probably wild birds included Tree Sparrows, Spotted Doves, Chinese Blackbirds, Chinese Bulbuls, and a Hwamei, as well as at least one Red-bellied Squirrel.
Single-wattled Cassowary
Emu
[the ratite enclosures were blocked by construction fencing. On the map this area shows Double-wattled Cassowary rather than Single-wattled, and Ostrich rather than Emu. The former ratite enclosures by the Zebra were empty]
African Penguin (only four birds seen)
Black Swan
Whooper Swan
[the lake also had signage for Mute Swan]
Mandarin Duck (in the walk-through aviary)
Greater Flamingo
Caribbean Flamingo
White-naped Crane
Red-crowned Crane
Black-necked Crane
Demoiselle Crane
Grey Crowned Crane
Oriental White Stork
Black Stork
Great White Pelican
Chinese Crested Ibis
Scarlet Ibis
Indian Peafowl
Green Peafowl
Golden Pheasant (in a dedicated aviary and in the walk-through aviary)
Melanistic Ring-necked Pheasant (one male seen in the walk-through aviary)
Blue and Yellow Macaw
Green-winged Macaw
Red-shouldered Macaw (did not see)
Yellow-crowned Amazon
White-bellied Parrot (Pionites leucogaster)
Sun Conure
Green-cheeked Conure (all mutations)
Quaker Parakeet (normal and blue mutation)
African Grey Parrot
Alexandrine
Derbyan Parakeet
Eclectus
Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Umbrella Cockatoo (did not see)
Moluccan Cockatoo
Goffin’s Cockatoo
Coconut Lorikeet (signed on a mixed parrot aviary but did not see)
Malabar Pied Hornbill
Great Indian Hornbill
Livingstone’s Touraco
Greater Hill Mynah (in the walk-through aviary)
REPTILES:
A really nice reptile house, well-lit, spacious hallways, and with planted areas in the middle. It was packed with visitors on my visit (being Sunday) so I couldn’t get many photos. I saw almost all the inhabitants though. Compared to my last visit in 2013 the tanks are better-landscaped and more attractive - in 2013 I wrote “there is quite a large collection here, mostly in quite large terrariums although I didn't think much of the furnishings in most of them (most just seemed very bare and dusty). A lot of the snake tanks were far too small for my liking”. The current species line-up is a bit different to 2013.
I have put scientific names for the species where there might be confusion (names are as used on the zoo signage).
You can’t tell the difference in the tank furnishings but I was surprised I got a photo of an empty Reptile House in 2013!
Chinese Alligator
Siamese Crocodile
Yellow-headed Temple Turtle
Malaysian Giant Turtle
Alligator Snapping Turtle
Keeled Box Turtle (Cuora mouhotii)
Asian Leaf Turtle (Cyclemys dentata)
Asian Forest Tortoise
Yellow-headed Tortoise
Impressed Tortoise
Leopard Tortoise
African Spurred Tortoise
Argentine Black and White Tegu (did not see)
Rhinoceros Iguana (did not see)
Common Iguana
New Guinea Forest Dragon (Hypsilurus magnus)
Eastern Water Dragon
Central Bearded Dragon
Green Keel-bellied Lizard (Gastropholis prasina)
Rough-scaled Plated Lizard (Broadleysaurus major)
Common Blue-tongue Skink
Crested Gecko
Veiled Chameleon
Reticulated Python
Burmese Python (yellow)
Ball Python
Red-tailed Boa
Brown Rainbow Boa (Epicrates maurus)
California King Snake (Lampropeltis californiae)
Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula)
Corn Snake [this tank was covered up]
Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)
Amur Ratsnake (Elaphe schrenckii) (did not see)
Striped-tailed Ratsnake (Elaphe taeniura)
Keeled Ratsnake (Elaphe carinata)
Sharp-snouted Pit-Viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus)
White-lipped Green Pit-Viper (Trimeresurus albolabris)
Red-banded Wolf Snake (Lycodon rufozonatus)
AMPHIBIANS:
Chinese Giant Salamander (in the Reptile House, with at least eight animals in one tank)
FISH:
The aquarium section had about forty tanks, all with circular viewing windows and mostly attractively-planted, apart for one large cylindrical one in the “middle” which had Koi Carp. The aquariums are arranged along a winding wall rather than being inside a building. Most of the fish are standard tropical aquarium fish, and there are many fancy goldfish varieties as well. Signage was limited to the common name.
In 2013 this area was blocked off for either construction or renovation so I didn’t see it. The name given was “Goldfish Pavilion” so I hadn’t thought I’d missed much, but it is very nice indeed even if the species are ordinary.
Koi Carp
Goldfish (many different varieties)
Rosy Bitterling
Zebra Danio (including GM glofish)
Rosy Barb
Tiger Barb
Tinfoil Barb
Rainbow Shark (mostly albinos)
Chinese High-Fin Shark
Chinese Algae-eater (golden)
Blue Gourami (golden)
Dwarf Gourami (golden)
Black Widow (a couple of normal ones, but otherwise all GM glofish)
Black-tailed Tetra (Moenkhausia costae)
Serpae Tetra
Red Parrot Cichlid
Polar Blue Parrot Cichlid (also labelled as Red Parrot Cichlid)
Malawi Cichlid (Melanochromis auratus)
unidentifiable African lake cichlids
Zebra Tilapia (Heterotilapia buettikoferi)
Red Jewel Cichlid
Angelfish
Blue Discus
Oscar
Red-tailed Catfish (in the Chinese Alligator pool in the Reptile House)
Pangasius sp
Plecostomus (Hypostomus sp)
Guppy
Green Swordtail
Platy
Including all species seen and signed.
I was last at the Chengdu Zoo in 2013. It is still broadly similar. See that review here: visit to Chengdu Zoo, 15 November 2013 [Chengdu Zoo]
Map of the zoo. This is one of the map-boards dotted around the zoo, a bit more up to date than the map on the back of the ticket which is more similar to the map they had in 2013. In the centre of the map-board is a construction symbol whereas on the ticket-map this spot has an Orangutan symbol. I thought this meant they were building a new Orangutan enclosure here, but the 2013 map also had the same Orangutan symbol.
…………………………………………………………………
MAMMALS:
A mixed bag of enclosures for mammals at the zoo.
Primates were the most mixed. The Golden Snub-nosed Monkeys had a large planted enclosure, as did all the apes although I suspect the Chimpanzees and Orangutan don’t really use their enclosures. Most of the other monkeys were in two blocks of cages - the prison-yard style ones for (mostly) baboons and Mandrills; and the concrete ones for guenons and macaques. The former enclosures look awful but they are reasonably big (not actually big, but not too small either), are tall (viewing is from two levels), all have lots of climbing structures, they are mesh-roofed, and some of them are planted. The macaque cages are really bad and I had hoped they might have been demolished already. The guenon cages are sort of halfway between - they are fairly big, with an area at the front for plants, but are otherwise just concrete cages.
The Big Cats all had glass-fronted planted enclosures which were okay. There was a row of small bleak cages behind the Leopards (formerly the indoor enclosures for those) housing Leopard Cat, Masked Palm Civet, and Raccoon. Otherwise the small mammals were reasonably housed in planted enclosures which were fine. The bear pits were the same as in 2013 - not the greatest but better than just blank concrete pits.
The deer and antelope yards were fine, although not large. Hippos had very small enclosures (just a pool and a small concrete land area). Indoor viewing was present for the larger mammals (e.g. giraffes, elephants, rhinos).
Ring-tailed Lemur (did not see)
Collins’ Squirrel Monkey (as signed - this is a split from the Common Squirrel Monkey, but I wouldn’t be able to say if the identification of the sign is accurate)
Black-capped Capuchin
Golden Snub-nosed Monkey
Francois’ Langur
Red-tailed Guenon (two animals)
De Brazza’s Monkey (one, sharing its cage with the Northern Pig-tailed Macaque)
Green Monkey (four enclosures - all were labelled as “Green Monkey” but two enclosures were signed with the scientific name Cercopithecus aethiops and two with Cercopithecus sabaeus - I don’t know if they are all the same or if they actually have both species)
Rhesus Macaque
Japanese Macaque
Crab-eating Macaque
Tibetan Macaque
Stump-tailed Macaque
Northern Pig-tailed Macaque (one, sharing its cage with the De Brazza’s Monkey)
Olive Baboon
Hamadryas Baboon
Mandrill
Buff-cheeked Gibbon
Orangutan (one male, unspecified to species)
Chimpanzee (two individuals, in separate enclosures)
South Chinese Tiger
Siberian Tiger
African Lion
White Lion
Leopard (spotted and black in separate enclosures)
Jaguar
Eurasian Lynx
Leopard Cat (did not see)
Grey Wolf
Fennec Fox
Raccoon Dog (white)
Brown Bear
Tibetan Blue Bear
Asiatic Black Bear
Sun Bear
Giant Panda
Red Panda (enclosure blocked by construction fencing)
Small-clawed Otter
Meerkat (two enclosures in separate areas of the zoo)
Masked Palm Civet
Common Raccoon (two enclosures in separate areas of the zoo)
Cape Fur Seal (one)
Spotted Seal (three)
Asian Elephant
Pony
Plains Zebra
White Rhinoceros
Common Hippopotamus
Giraffe
Alpaca
Llama
Bactrian Camel
Sichuan Takin
Mouflon (unsigned in a yard labelled for Fallow Deer [not the white Fallow Deer which were in a different yard])
Bharal (Blue Sheep) (in two yards)
Blackbuck (in a mixed yard with Bharal)
Eland
Scimitar-horned Oryx (as per the sign but they look like hybrids)
Tufted Deer
Hog Deer
Sika
Sambar
Wapiti
Pere David’s Deer
Fallow Deer (white)
Chinese Crested Porcupine
Capybara
Mara
[Black-tailed Prairie Dogs were signed but the burrows in the enclosure all looked old, and there was a Capybara in the indoor part of the enclosure]
[There was signage for Himalayan Marmot (and footage of marmots playing on a screen elsewhere in the zoo) but the enclosure held Mara - it is winter though, so they may have them in hibernation]
BIRDS:
The birds at the zoo are mostly housed in the southeast wing of the zoo apart for the ratites in the northeast by the elephants.
The southeast corner of the zoo (formerly the Childrens Zoo area) is where the penguins and Blue Peafowl are housed.
The wading birds are, apart for the cranes and storks, housed in large aviaries alongside the lake (for pelicans and swans). The Green Peafowl and Golden Pheasants are also in these aviaries. The hybrid ibis x spoonbills of my 2013 visit are no longer present.
The parrots are all housed in one large block of aviaries, with a large mixed aviary in the centre. The hornbills and touracos aviaries are also here.
The walk-through aviary also includes a row of glass-fronted aviaries for the cranes and storks. The walk-through itself is now almost empty of zoo birds (it was well-stocked with passerines in 2013), probably because the chain curtains which act as doors do not look very effective and at least some chains were tied back for visitors to come through unobstructed. The only definite zoo birds I saw inside were a group of Hill Mynahs, Mandarin Ducks, Golden Pheasants, and a melanistic Ring-necked Pheasant. Additional birds seen in the walk-through aviary which were probably wild birds included Tree Sparrows, Spotted Doves, Chinese Blackbirds, Chinese Bulbuls, and a Hwamei, as well as at least one Red-bellied Squirrel.
Single-wattled Cassowary
Emu
[the ratite enclosures were blocked by construction fencing. On the map this area shows Double-wattled Cassowary rather than Single-wattled, and Ostrich rather than Emu. The former ratite enclosures by the Zebra were empty]
African Penguin (only four birds seen)
Black Swan
Whooper Swan
[the lake also had signage for Mute Swan]
Mandarin Duck (in the walk-through aviary)
Greater Flamingo
Caribbean Flamingo
White-naped Crane
Red-crowned Crane
Black-necked Crane
Demoiselle Crane
Grey Crowned Crane
Oriental White Stork
Black Stork
Great White Pelican
Chinese Crested Ibis
Scarlet Ibis
Indian Peafowl
Green Peafowl
Golden Pheasant (in a dedicated aviary and in the walk-through aviary)
Melanistic Ring-necked Pheasant (one male seen in the walk-through aviary)
Blue and Yellow Macaw
Green-winged Macaw
Red-shouldered Macaw (did not see)
Yellow-crowned Amazon
White-bellied Parrot (Pionites leucogaster)
Sun Conure
Green-cheeked Conure (all mutations)
Quaker Parakeet (normal and blue mutation)
African Grey Parrot
Alexandrine
Derbyan Parakeet
Eclectus
Greater Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Umbrella Cockatoo (did not see)
Moluccan Cockatoo
Goffin’s Cockatoo
Coconut Lorikeet (signed on a mixed parrot aviary but did not see)
Malabar Pied Hornbill
Great Indian Hornbill
Livingstone’s Touraco
Greater Hill Mynah (in the walk-through aviary)
REPTILES:
A really nice reptile house, well-lit, spacious hallways, and with planted areas in the middle. It was packed with visitors on my visit (being Sunday) so I couldn’t get many photos. I saw almost all the inhabitants though. Compared to my last visit in 2013 the tanks are better-landscaped and more attractive - in 2013 I wrote “there is quite a large collection here, mostly in quite large terrariums although I didn't think much of the furnishings in most of them (most just seemed very bare and dusty). A lot of the snake tanks were far too small for my liking”. The current species line-up is a bit different to 2013.
I have put scientific names for the species where there might be confusion (names are as used on the zoo signage).
You can’t tell the difference in the tank furnishings but I was surprised I got a photo of an empty Reptile House in 2013!
Chinese Alligator
Siamese Crocodile
Yellow-headed Temple Turtle
Malaysian Giant Turtle
Alligator Snapping Turtle
Keeled Box Turtle (Cuora mouhotii)
Asian Leaf Turtle (Cyclemys dentata)
Asian Forest Tortoise
Yellow-headed Tortoise
Impressed Tortoise
Leopard Tortoise
African Spurred Tortoise
Argentine Black and White Tegu (did not see)
Rhinoceros Iguana (did not see)
Common Iguana
New Guinea Forest Dragon (Hypsilurus magnus)
Eastern Water Dragon
Central Bearded Dragon
Green Keel-bellied Lizard (Gastropholis prasina)
Rough-scaled Plated Lizard (Broadleysaurus major)
Common Blue-tongue Skink
Crested Gecko
Veiled Chameleon
Reticulated Python
Burmese Python (yellow)
Ball Python
Red-tailed Boa
Brown Rainbow Boa (Epicrates maurus)
California King Snake (Lampropeltis californiae)
Kingsnake (Lampropeltis getula)
Corn Snake [this tank was covered up]
Gopher Snake (Pituophis catenifer)
Amur Ratsnake (Elaphe schrenckii) (did not see)
Striped-tailed Ratsnake (Elaphe taeniura)
Keeled Ratsnake (Elaphe carinata)
Sharp-snouted Pit-Viper (Deinagkistrodon acutus)
White-lipped Green Pit-Viper (Trimeresurus albolabris)
Red-banded Wolf Snake (Lycodon rufozonatus)
AMPHIBIANS:
Chinese Giant Salamander (in the Reptile House, with at least eight animals in one tank)
FISH:
The aquarium section had about forty tanks, all with circular viewing windows and mostly attractively-planted, apart for one large cylindrical one in the “middle” which had Koi Carp. The aquariums are arranged along a winding wall rather than being inside a building. Most of the fish are standard tropical aquarium fish, and there are many fancy goldfish varieties as well. Signage was limited to the common name.
In 2013 this area was blocked off for either construction or renovation so I didn’t see it. The name given was “Goldfish Pavilion” so I hadn’t thought I’d missed much, but it is very nice indeed even if the species are ordinary.
Koi Carp
Goldfish (many different varieties)
Rosy Bitterling
Zebra Danio (including GM glofish)
Rosy Barb
Tiger Barb
Tinfoil Barb
Rainbow Shark (mostly albinos)
Chinese High-Fin Shark
Chinese Algae-eater (golden)
Blue Gourami (golden)
Dwarf Gourami (golden)
Black Widow (a couple of normal ones, but otherwise all GM glofish)
Black-tailed Tetra (Moenkhausia costae)
Serpae Tetra
Red Parrot Cichlid
Polar Blue Parrot Cichlid (also labelled as Red Parrot Cichlid)
Malawi Cichlid (Melanochromis auratus)
unidentifiable African lake cichlids
Zebra Tilapia (Heterotilapia buettikoferi)
Red Jewel Cichlid
Angelfish
Blue Discus
Oscar
Red-tailed Catfish (in the Chinese Alligator pool in the Reptile House)
Pangasius sp
Plecostomus (Hypostomus sp)
Guppy
Green Swordtail
Platy
