Chengdu Zoo Review of Chengdu Zoo (23 March 2014)

[Javin 98]

The first zoo I ever visited in China (well, to be honest, it's my first time in China), the Chengdu Zoo has a lot to offer and I can say it is easily better than any zoos in Malaysia. Granted, the zoo has several poorly managed exhibits but the good ones outnumber the bad ones. Many enclosures are well planted, giving a natural look, and most of the animals are given sufficient enrichment objects. However, on the downside, many enclosures barely exceed the minimum space requirements for the animals and should be significantly larger. Overall, the Chengdu Zoo is indeed a great zoo and is set to raise the bar for Chinese zoos.

The zoo can easily be reached via bus or taxi (I took a taxi there for only about 24 yuan). The entrance fee is only 20 yuan. I got there at about 9.15 a.m. (about an hour after opening time) and spent a good five hours there. The size of the zoo pales in comparison to most zoos in the States but seems to be adequately big. Most people would be relieved to know that the zoo is extremely clean and well maintained. Construction was going on over at the small deers enclosures, so I missed the opportunity to see the tufted and red hog deers. On the bright side, the larger deers were moved back to their new and improved enclosures.

Now, I will take you on a tour around the Chengdu Zoo. So, from the entrance, I took a right turn which leads me to the Goldfish Pavilion. The Goldfish Pavilion was decent with dozens of species of goldfish (the tanks were reasonably big and decorated) and a koi pond on display but I'm not a big fan of those, so I moved on after a while.

Next, I went into the Reptile House. There was quite a large collection of reptiles on display. Most of the reptiles were in large terrariums with some rocks and small ponds. However, some of the snake tanks were too small, especially for the king cobra. The center of the house was planted with trees and open which lit up the house. I was surprised that only one amphibian was on display, the Chinese giant salamander. There were two species of crocodylians, the Chinese alligator (which I couldn't see too well because it was behind plants) and young saltwater crocodiles in a pond. I couldn't remember some of the species but the lizards were green iguanas, leopard gecko, bearded dragon, water monitor and Chinese water dragon. I apologize but I forgot all the species of tortoises, though I remember seeing a really large one in a large terrariums. For snakes, some were hidden but I recall seeing king cobras, Chinese cobras, Indian cobras, monocled cobra, Burmese python, reticulated python, snorkel viper and more.

Exiting the Reptile House, the parrot house was directly opposite. The parrot house was awful looking, with the usual bare concrete exhibits. As such, I decided to move on to the walk-through aviary due to time constrains. The walk through aviary, on the other hand, was fantastic and perhaps one of the best enclosures in the zoo. It isn't overly large, but bird lovers can spend a lot of time here. A raised walkway takes you around the very well planted aviary and brings you closer to the free roaming birds. Glass fronted enclosures containing storks and cranes were also in the aviary. They weren't large but not small and seem decent. At the very least, there was a small stream and some plants in there. The species were Japanese, demoiselle, white-naped and black-necked cranes, and black and Oriental white storks.

I will finish the rest in Part 2. Stay tuned!

 

[Javin 98]

I apologize it took me so long to finish the review. I've been rather busy lately. So, to recap, I stopped at the walk through aviary.

Outside of the aviary was a very large lake with pelicans, black swans and various other birds. An island was right at the middle of the lake. A row of large glass fronted aviaries were next to the lake. However, I somehow missed the exhibit containing vultures, which I was really looking forward to. Anyway, one of the exhibits had a large combination of birds including scarlet ibis, grey herons, little egrets, demoiselle cranes and mandarin ducks. The last one had Carribbean flamingoes (this one could have been bigger).

Moving on, a Science Museum displaying eggs of various bird species and skulls was ahead, followed by the petting zoo. The first exhibit was a big concrete pen holding chickens, pigeons and blue peafowls. After that, there was a fenced up area with concrete floors holding goats, a very large cow and a couple of llamas. Despite being a petting zoo, I can't help but feel that it could have been improved considerably. The goats and cow could be fed with vegetables for only 1 yuan while the llamas were too busy chowing down on the large supply of food they already have. Next, a relatively small and shallow pool for a spotted seal (surprisingly, only one was on display when there should have been two) The seal could also be fed with a block of fish for 5 yuan. It was definitely a blast watching it positioning itself before leaping out of the water for the bait! A small, concrete floored penguin enclosure was also in the petting zoo. Oddly, there were only around 6 African penguins in the exhibit and the Magellanic penguin was no where in sight.

From there, the primate house was ahead. The primates on display here were mandrills, chimpanzees, an orangutan and white cheeked gibbons. All the exhibits were glass fronted and divided into two segments: a visible indoor pen and heavily planted indoor enclosures. Both parts of the exhibits had enrichment objects for the primates (hanging tyres and climbing structures). Nearby was the first of three golden snub nosed monkey exhibits in the zoo. As the previous exhibits, it was heavily planted and glass fronted. It was overly crowded but luckily was very large so I could see the monkeys through the many viewing panels.

Next, we move on to the stars of the zoo: the giant pandas! As none of the zoos in Malaysia had pandas on display (Zoo Negara is having a pair soon), you can imagine my excitement seeing them for the first time! There were three indoor concrete exhibits with artificial rocks. Perhaps unsurprisingly, these are glass fronted too. The following exhibit was round one which was very similar to the others but this one had a red panda. The outdoor exhibits were next. These were much better than the indoor exhibits as they were well planted but still glass fronted with a dry moat at the front. One had a group of red pandas while the other two had giant pandas.

After that, I walked back to the primate house and continued to the squirrel monkey and ring tailed lemur exhibits. Like the primate exhibits, these were divided into two segments as well. The real exhibits were excessively planted and very large, resembling a jungle. Up next was the mandrill/baboon complex. Unfortunately, the complex consists of small concrete walled exhibits without much foliage. At least these exhibits still had adequate furnishing (ropes, climbing structures). A couple of exhibits had hamadryas baboons, one had golden snub nosed monkeys, one had olive baboons and the rest held mandrills. It must have been my lucky day as I had the rare chance to see a couple of hamadryas baboons mate! A restaurant was just in front of the mandrill/baboon complex so I stopped for a lunch break.

So, after lunch, I continued to the series of macaque exhibits which were in dire need of improvements. All were very small and ugly with no outdoor access for the macaques. As with most exhibits at the zoo, these were glass fronted. The macaques here are crab-eating, pig-tailed, Japanese, stump-tailed, Tibetan and Assamese. Following up was a two level complex with rhesus macaques on ground level and guenons on the second level. I'll start with the guenons. The guenons exhibits were extremely similar to the macaque exhibits, small and ugly. The species on display were putty-nosed guenons, De Brazza's monkeys, green monkeys, Francois' langurs and black-capped capuchins. Now, onto the rhesus macaque exhibit. This one was leagues better than the tiny exhibits of the macaques and guenons. It was basically a very large island surrounded by a dry moat and held dozens of rhesus macaques. Concrete mountains were placed all over the exhibit.

The next exhibit were the large deer exhibits. The large deer exhibits had recently been upgraded to a larger scale and trees were being planted in the exhibit. However, the exhibits were still sub-par and there is still room for improvement. The deer species on display were sambar, white lipped, sika, Pere David's, red and fallow. Moving on, I was disappointed to find the small deers enclosure being under construction so I missed the chance to see any small deer species. Bactrian camels were next, followed by Mongolian wild ass, blue wildebeest, Chinese ponies and Sichuan takins. The other side was a large exhibit for blackbuck, bharal, scimitar-horned oryx and addax.

Next, I moved on to the bear pits. There were three pits but each were divided in two, so giving a total of six exhibits. Each exhibit still seemed big enough but a full pit would definitely be better. At the very least, the concrete floor of the exhibits have been replaced with earth and plants. Two had very cute Tibetan blue bears, one had a large Himalayan brown bear, another with a trio of sun bears and the other two held Asiatic black bears. The zoo used to have a polar bear but sadly, it passed away in 2012. (I still saw a couple at the Haichang Polar Ocean World, though)

Carrying on, the cat enclosures were nearby. First off was a lone male African lion in a rather small exhibit, followed by South China and Siberian tigers in larger exhibits and last but not least a trio of white tigers. All are glass fronted and well planted. Very small holding cells for leopards and jaguars were directly opposite. On the other side, there were four glass fronted (once again!) and well planted exhibits with fake trees. The first held a clouded leopard, the next one had two leopards, with a sleeping black panther in the next and the last one had a very active jaguar.

After another snack break, I moved on to the very end of the zoo. The first exhibit was rather barren exhibit with only dirt containing a pair of zebras that seemed to be of adequate size. The next one was smaller but at least had some plants in the middle and held a single white rhinoceros. The size of the exhibit surely seems insufficient even for just one rhinoceros. The hippo exhibit was directly opposite and nothing impressive either, just a rather small pool and some concrete floor. Further on, yet another exhibit of inadequate size. This one held a pair of elephants. Nevertheless, I was amazed by the size of the elephants (they seem much larger than those at Zoo Negara). A very large yard divided in three was ahead with a photo area for a Bactrian camel, an alpaca, a horse, a pony, a salmon-crested cockatoo and a blue peacock to the left. Back to the yard, two of the divided sections held emus and ostriches. The last one was much larger and contained a pair of giraffes with a big tall but uninteresting looking house.

Lastly, taking a left turn from the giraffe exhibit led me to the newest exhibits of the zoo which had just opened about a month prior to my visit: The Small Mammals Area! The zoo had been criticized by other Zoochat members for its lack of small mammals and this new area solves the problem. The first exhibit held six or seven meerkats and I was happy to see it covered in soil, allowing digging opportunities for the meerkats. The next one was supposed to contain raccoons but I couldn't see any while to the one to the right of it had a Asian golden cat but it was at the far end of its exhibit. The following exhibit was probably the most appealing to me as it contained grey wolves! And further on, there were exhibits for Japanese raccoon dog, blue foxes and an Arctic fox (the latter were in the same exhibit). Unlike most carnivore houses in Asian zoos, the Small Mammals Area is planted with grass and had some enrichment objects. I would even rank it as one of the best exhibits in the zoo. Going around the giraffe exhibit led me back to alternate exit to a temple.

In short, the Chengdu Zoo is indeed a great zoo to visit if you have the time to do so. Despite some nasty enclosures which could really use some improvements, the good ones definitely outnumber the bad ones. This zoo is a perfect example of how rapidly Chinese zoos are improving. The Chengdu Zoo is still a long way from a world class zoo but it may take as little as 5 years to reach that standard. Overall, I give it a solid 8/10 for a great variety of animals and some very good enclosures.