The Yangon Zoo (Yangon Zoo) ( ) is the oldest and the second largest

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility where animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoology, ...

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

. Located immediately north of downtown

Yangon Yangon, formerly romanized as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar. Yangon was the List of capitals of Myanmar, capital of Myanmar until 2005 and served as such until 2006, when the State Peace and Dev ...

near

Kandawgyi Lake Kandawgyi Lake ( ; ), is one of two major lakes in Yangon, Myanmar. Located east of the Shwedagon Pagoda, the lake is artificial; water from Inya Lake is channelled through a series of pipes to Kandawgyi Lake. It was created to provide a clean wa ...

, the recreational park also includes a museum of natural history, an

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

and an

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

. With a collection of nearly 200 species and 1100 animals, the zoo draws nearly 2.2 million visitors annually. The zoo was operated by the Forest Department under the Ministry of Forestry until April 2011, and is now operated by a private firm. Yangon Zoo is open from 8 AM to 6 PM daily.

History

The first collection of wild animals in Yangon began in 1882 in connection with Phayre's Museum, then situated at the present site of the

Yangon General Hospital The Yangon General Hospital (YGH, ) is a major public hospital in a compound in Yangon, Myanmar. The 2,000-bed hospital consists of seven medical wards, three surgical wards, two trauma and orthopaedic wards, and 28 specialist departments for inp ...

. Funded by a public donation of 240,000

kyat The kyat ( or ; ; ISO 4217 code MMK) is the currency of Myanmar (Burma). The typical notation for the kyat is "K" (singular) and "Ks." (plural), placed before the numerals followed by "/-". Amounts less than K. 1/- are typically denoted w ...

s(approximately US$240,000 then) construction started at the present site near the Royal Lake (Kandawgyi Lake) in 1901. The newly established zoological gardens was formally opened as the Victoria Memorial Park and Zoological Gardens in honor of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

. The major attraction at the opening was the white elephant of King Thibaw, the last king of then Burma, whom the British had exiled to India only 20 years earlier. In 1908 the Victoria Memorial Park and Zoological Gardens Act was passed giving the establishment a legal recognition. The zoo was vandalized and looted during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. In 1951, the then Burmese government changed the name to “Rangoon Zoological Gardens and Parks.” In 1962, the zoo's area was enlarged to the present size of . The enlarged compound opened doors to new attractions: a museum of natural history on 4 May 1966, an amusement park on 7 October 1997 and an aquarium on 1 October 1998. The aquarium is operated by the Department of Fisheries. Between 2003 and 2006, the zoo underwent a MMK600M (approximately US$600K) renovation program, resulting in an increase in the number of visitors from 1.1 million in 2003-2004 and 1.8 million in 2004–2005 to 2.2 million in 2005–2006. A large number of animals at Yangon Zoo, including elephants, monkeys, rhinos, and bears, were relocated to the Naypyidaw Zoo in February 2008. Yangon Zoo IMG 20180407 103208

Attractions

Land animals

The zoo has 145 species of land animals, including 8 endangered species (the

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large Felidae, cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is ...

, the

takin The takin (''Budorcas taxicolor''; ), also called cattle chamois or gnu goat, is a large species of ungulate of the subfamily Caprinae found in the eastern Himalayas. It includes four subspecies: the Mishmi takin (''B. t. taxicolor''), the golde ...

Asian elephant The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living ''Elephas'' species. It is the largest living land animal in Asia and the second largest living Elephantidae, elephantid in the world. It is char ...

, the Burmese large

tortoise Tortoises ( ) are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin for "tortoise"). Like other turtles, tortoises have a shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, and like o ...

, the great

hornbill Hornbills are birds found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia of the family Bucerotidae. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a horny casque on the upper ...

, the

marsh crocodile The mugger crocodile (''Crocodylus palustris'') is a medium-sized broad-snouted crocodile, also known as mugger and marsh crocodile. It is native to freshwater habitats from south-eastern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marsh ...

and the

eld's deer Eld's deer (''Rucervus eldii'' or ''Panolia eldii''Pitraa, Fickela, Meijaard, Groves (2004). ''Evolution and phylogeny of old world deer.'' Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 33: 880–895.), also known as the thamin or brow-antlered deer, i ...

). In 2000, the number of land animals in the zoo was 1203 while that in 2006 was 1100.

Flora

In 2000, the zoo had over 300 species of

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

totaling over 15,000 pieces.

Museum of Natural History

The Natural History Museum, located in the southern end of the park, houses exhibits of

taxidermy Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the proces ...

, specializing in rare species of Burmese

fauna Fauna (: faunae or faunas) is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding terms for plants and fungi are ''flora'' and '' funga'', respectively. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively ...

with explanatory charts and captions. Many of the curators are postgraduate students of zoology from the

University of Yangon The University of Yangon (also Yangon University; , ; formerly Rangoon College, University of Rangoon and Rangoon Arts and Sciences University), located in Kamayut, Yangon, is the oldest university in Myanmar's modern education system and the b ...

Animal Performance Shows

Various animal shows are performed on weekends and public holidays during the fall and summer seasons (November to April).

Aquarium

Opened in 1998, the aquarium is the first large scale aquarium in the country.

Amusement Park

The amusement park has a number of rides including roller coaster 2027.

References

{{coord, 16, 47, 30, N, 96, 9, 34, E, region:MM_type:landmark, display=title Zoos in Myanmar Buildings and structures in Yangon 1906 establishments in Burma Educational organizations established in 1906 Zoos established in the 1900s