Today I visited Phuket Zoo. Online you can find many instances of people labelling the zoo as being horrible and cruel and demanding the zoos closure. Recently however I had read that the zoo had passed an inspection for animal cruelty, and when I arrived at the zoo I saw the roof of a medium sized well planted aviary, so I had high hopes that the zoo had improved. I was in a for a shock.
Species List:
Mammals:
Asian Elephant
Tiger
Fallow Deer
Orangutan
Pig Tailed Macque
Red Deer
Goat
Horse
Sun Bear (I didn’t see these, so I can’t guarantee there actually there)
Porcupine (not sure of species)
Otters (not sure of species)
Squirrel (not sure of species)
Birds:
Great Hornbill
Pied Hornbill
Red Billed Magpie
Chicken
Black Swan
Budgie
White Bellied Sea Eagle
Ostrich
Nicobar Pigeon
Red Whiskered Bulbul
Black Vented Bulbul
Purple Swamphen
Sulpher Crested Cockatoo
Alexandrine Parrot
Pied Imperial Pigeon
Asian Koel
Moustached Parakeet
Indian Peafowl
Blue and Gold Macaw
Orange Breasted Green Pigeon
Hill Mynah
Eurasian Jay
Sun Conure
Pale Capped Pigeon
Grey Crowned Crane
Lovebird (not sure of species)
Laughing Thrush (not sure of species)
Owl (not sure of species)
Eagle (not sure of species)
Hornbill (not sure of species)
This other very large bird that is yet to be identified
Reptiles:
Burmese Python
Asian Water Monitor
Green Iguana
Saltwater Crocodile
Tortoises (not sure of species)
Fish:
Tilapia
Alligator Gar
Giant Gourami
There were also some other species that I can’t identify, I will post photos of these species in the gallery for identification.
There’s no real layout to the zoo. Enclosures and cages are just scattered everywhere. I’m not going to do a walk through as that would be way to confusing to read due to the insane layout. I also know for a fact that I missed some species because some of my family with me later told me they saw some bears which I completely missed.
When we first entered the zoo a Thai man immediately approached us and told us to follow him. He lead us along a path lined with chickens that had baskets over them. He then lead us into an area with three tigers. Two of the tigers were in cages smaller than your average bathroom, while one the tigers was sprawled out over the floor and was chained to a post. The man grabbed my youngest cousins hand and led her to the tiger and told her to sit down and hold the tigers tail. The man then aggressively lifted the tigers head up with a stick so that it would face the camera. Considering the fact that this tiger just let a man pull its head up with a stick and the tiger didn’t even flinch or react the tiger was most probably drugged. After realising what was happening and how horrible it was we swiftly left this area despite the protests of the man.
Several of the enclosures and aviaries throughout the park are abandoned and are filled with rubbish. Many of these enclosures are still signed but are obviously empty. It appears the zoo has tried to reduce the number of empty aviaries by filling them with chickens and Indian Peafowl. Even some of the aviaries with pigeons and the like are filled with chickens.
There were two elephants at the zoo. There enclosure consisted of a concerted rectangle encased by metal fencing. Both elephants were chained to a post. One of the elephants was swinging its head from side to side, a symptom of zoochosis.
Many of the species had multiple enclosures. There were around 20 great hornbills spread around the zoo in different enclosures. Some were kept in very large aviaries while others where kept in aviaries no bigger than your average backyard budgie aviary. Red Billed magpies, pied hornbills, grey crowned cranes and porcupines also has enclosures spread throughout the zoo.
There were several very odd aviaries that were very narrow but very tall. One of these had a nicobar pigeon while another had a pair of red Billed magpies. These aviaries were completely unsuitable for these species as the only way they could fly was up flying upwards at a diagonal angle before hitting the cage and then flying diagonally upwards the other way.
There were four pig tailed macaque enclosures, all in a row. They were tiny and the only thing in the cage was a small platform made out of wooden planks for the monkeys to sit on. The enclosures were tiny and the monkeys had no shade. The only orangutan I saw at the zoo was a young individual. It didn’t even have an enclosure, it was sitting on a bench beside several staff members under a shelter in the zoo. The orangutan was unfortunately forced to wear human pants.
Probably the worst thing about the zoo in general was the complete lack of clean water, or lack of water at all. I didn’t see any clean drinking water, all of the water was either green or fall of sludge and debris. The otter pond was completely empty. Food was also scarce and I only saw three animals with food, the tortoises, the red deer and a cat and her kittens that were living amongst the rubbish in one of the empty aviaries.
In the middle of the zoo was a lake, which had several islands connected to the rest of the zoo by bridges. On these islands were the enclosures for goats and horses, fallow deer and ostrich. The lone male ostrich had rubbed the front of his legs raw on the fence that encased his enclosure. All the fallow deer and red deer were white. This large lake was very dirty and filled with rubbish. The water level had also dropped significantly. Giant gourami inhabited the lake as well as a free ranging pair of of black Swan.
The enclosures in the zoo that were suitable were the tilapia pond, giant gourami and tilapia pond, alligator gar tank, lovebird and budgie aviary, fallow deer enclosure, red deer enclosure, alexandrine parrot and moustached parrot aviary and the large aviary I had seen when I approached the zoo. This aviary was very large and had a large pond with clean water and a water fall. The only habitants this very large aviary were some Indian mynahs, spotted doves, half a dozen purple swamp hens and a single male Indian Peafowl. One of the most frustrating things about this whole situation is many of the birds could be placed in this large aviary instead of there current aviaries.
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Final Thoughts
There is no doubt about the fact that Phuket Zoo is a horrible zoo that needs to change as soon as possible. There has been much lobbying by people to close the zoo and I think everyone is starting to get the message, as when we visited there were less than four families in the zoo. The number of animals at the zoo seems to have dropped significantly, as there were many empty enclosures. The price is also ridiculous as it is over $70 aud. I think the way the zoo is going it might close soon, but I don’t know if that is necessarily a good thing is it would probably mean the end for many of the animals there. Hopefully the zoo is shut down by the Thai government and the animals kept there distributed amongst reputable zoos were they can live out there days comfortably and free from abuse.
Species List:
Mammals:
Asian Elephant
Tiger
Fallow Deer
Orangutan
Pig Tailed Macque
Red Deer
Goat
Horse
Sun Bear (I didn’t see these, so I can’t guarantee there actually there)
Porcupine (not sure of species)
Otters (not sure of species)
Squirrel (not sure of species)
Birds:
Great Hornbill
Pied Hornbill
Red Billed Magpie
Chicken
Black Swan
Budgie
White Bellied Sea Eagle
Ostrich
Nicobar Pigeon
Red Whiskered Bulbul
Black Vented Bulbul
Purple Swamphen
Sulpher Crested Cockatoo
Alexandrine Parrot
Pied Imperial Pigeon
Asian Koel
Moustached Parakeet
Indian Peafowl
Blue and Gold Macaw
Orange Breasted Green Pigeon
Hill Mynah
Eurasian Jay
Sun Conure
Pale Capped Pigeon
Grey Crowned Crane
Lovebird (not sure of species)
Laughing Thrush (not sure of species)
Owl (not sure of species)
Eagle (not sure of species)
Hornbill (not sure of species)
This other very large bird that is yet to be identified
Reptiles:
Burmese Python
Asian Water Monitor
Green Iguana
Saltwater Crocodile
Tortoises (not sure of species)
Fish:
Tilapia
Alligator Gar
Giant Gourami
There were also some other species that I can’t identify, I will post photos of these species in the gallery for identification.
There’s no real layout to the zoo. Enclosures and cages are just scattered everywhere. I’m not going to do a walk through as that would be way to confusing to read due to the insane layout. I also know for a fact that I missed some species because some of my family with me later told me they saw some bears which I completely missed.
When we first entered the zoo a Thai man immediately approached us and told us to follow him. He lead us along a path lined with chickens that had baskets over them. He then lead us into an area with three tigers. Two of the tigers were in cages smaller than your average bathroom, while one the tigers was sprawled out over the floor and was chained to a post. The man grabbed my youngest cousins hand and led her to the tiger and told her to sit down and hold the tigers tail. The man then aggressively lifted the tigers head up with a stick so that it would face the camera. Considering the fact that this tiger just let a man pull its head up with a stick and the tiger didn’t even flinch or react the tiger was most probably drugged. After realising what was happening and how horrible it was we swiftly left this area despite the protests of the man.
Several of the enclosures and aviaries throughout the park are abandoned and are filled with rubbish. Many of these enclosures are still signed but are obviously empty. It appears the zoo has tried to reduce the number of empty aviaries by filling them with chickens and Indian Peafowl. Even some of the aviaries with pigeons and the like are filled with chickens.
There were two elephants at the zoo. There enclosure consisted of a concerted rectangle encased by metal fencing. Both elephants were chained to a post. One of the elephants was swinging its head from side to side, a symptom of zoochosis.
Many of the species had multiple enclosures. There were around 20 great hornbills spread around the zoo in different enclosures. Some were kept in very large aviaries while others where kept in aviaries no bigger than your average backyard budgie aviary. Red Billed magpies, pied hornbills, grey crowned cranes and porcupines also has enclosures spread throughout the zoo.
There were several very odd aviaries that were very narrow but very tall. One of these had a nicobar pigeon while another had a pair of red Billed magpies. These aviaries were completely unsuitable for these species as the only way they could fly was up flying upwards at a diagonal angle before hitting the cage and then flying diagonally upwards the other way.
There were four pig tailed macaque enclosures, all in a row. They were tiny and the only thing in the cage was a small platform made out of wooden planks for the monkeys to sit on. The enclosures were tiny and the monkeys had no shade. The only orangutan I saw at the zoo was a young individual. It didn’t even have an enclosure, it was sitting on a bench beside several staff members under a shelter in the zoo. The orangutan was unfortunately forced to wear human pants.
Probably the worst thing about the zoo in general was the complete lack of clean water, or lack of water at all. I didn’t see any clean drinking water, all of the water was either green or fall of sludge and debris. The otter pond was completely empty. Food was also scarce and I only saw three animals with food, the tortoises, the red deer and a cat and her kittens that were living amongst the rubbish in one of the empty aviaries.
In the middle of the zoo was a lake, which had several islands connected to the rest of the zoo by bridges. On these islands were the enclosures for goats and horses, fallow deer and ostrich. The lone male ostrich had rubbed the front of his legs raw on the fence that encased his enclosure. All the fallow deer and red deer were white. This large lake was very dirty and filled with rubbish. The water level had also dropped significantly. Giant gourami inhabited the lake as well as a free ranging pair of of black Swan.
The enclosures in the zoo that were suitable were the tilapia pond, giant gourami and tilapia pond, alligator gar tank, lovebird and budgie aviary, fallow deer enclosure, red deer enclosure, alexandrine parrot and moustached parrot aviary and the large aviary I had seen when I approached the zoo. This aviary was very large and had a large pond with clean water and a water fall. The only habitants this very large aviary were some Indian mynahs, spotted doves, half a dozen purple swamp hens and a single male Indian Peafowl. One of the most frustrating things about this whole situation is many of the birds could be placed in this large aviary instead of there current aviaries.
—————————————————
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt about the fact that Phuket Zoo is a horrible zoo that needs to change as soon as possible. There has been much lobbying by people to close the zoo and I think everyone is starting to get the message, as when we visited there were less than four families in the zoo. The number of animals at the zoo seems to have dropped significantly, as there were many empty enclosures. The price is also ridiculous as it is over $70 aud. I think the way the zoo is going it might close soon, but I don’t know if that is necessarily a good thing is it would probably mean the end for many of the animals there. Hopefully the zoo is shut down by the Thai government and the animals kept there distributed amongst reputable zoos were they can live out there days comfortably and free from abuse.
