Hi Guys, I have my doubts about whether this thread will ever be read on this board, but I wanted to keep it relevant. We'll be in Hong Kong for a couple days in mid December and I was after some advice on zoos and wildlife spotting there. My Google search has only yielded Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, and Ocean Park. Are there any other zoos that you can recommend? Also, are there any places worth a visit to spot wildlife? Cheers!
I've no idea whether it's worth a visit, but Kadoorie farm looks interesting: Welcome to Kadoorie Farm & Botanic Garden Actually, on the 13th December, one of the speakers in ZSL's 'Conservation in China' evening (at London Zoo - UK) is from there, so you might catch that too. Another couple of places I've come across: http://www.wetlandpark.com/en/index.asp Hong Kong Park - Specialties - Bird Collection
When I read your post I was curious about what wildlife might be lurking around Hong Kong and this page popped out when I Googled "Hong Kong wildlife": Wildlife in Hong Kong - 12hk.com Apparently there are wild macaques around some of the parks. The page mentions a couple of them. Have a good trip. Hopefully you can write up some reviews of what you see, as I'm sure that they would be of interest to several of us.
It has been over 8 years since I visited Hong Kong I think, so my observations might be out of date ... Don't get too excited about the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens ... a very small and largely forgettable free zoo. The trek to get there is more interesting than the zoo itself. Ocean Park was a pleasant surprise for me - pandas, a decent bird collection, and a reasonably good aquarium, plus some amazing scenery. I didn't get a chance to see anything else, so I can't make any other recommendations.
Hi guys, thanks for the replies, and cheers for all the links. You have given me food for thought, and now I have some reading to do! Unfortunately, one of my days in Hong Kong will be wasted at Disneyworld - it was not my idea.......
Re: Hong Kong Disneyland At least you can ride the Jungle Cruise and go on an animatronic safari. Also I hear that they have giant rodents roaming around. Beware the giant rodents.
The Edward Youde Aviary in Hong Kong park is a fantastic structure and a delight for a couple of hours if you like birds. It is about 3000m2, and up to 30 metres hight, and is built over a canyon. This gives a wide variety of viewing heights. By far my favourite of "giant" aviaries I have seen so far. And it is free. Hong Kong Park is also a good place to watch wild birds. The HK Zoo is also free and on the other side of the Peak Tram to the HK Park, and is in two halves, divided by a busy road with tunnels connecting the two halves. One half is devoted to mostly small mammals, and the other to birds. It has a tiny reptile collection. The small mammal collection has a fair collection of primates, while the bird collection is interesting but hard to view (and photograph). Free also. Ocean Park is on the other side of the island. It is primarily a huge amusement park with some animal attractions. It has dolphin and seal shows, and a very large reef aquarium as well as several other aquariums. Mammals included Giant and Red Pandas and otters. There are several aviaries including a large walk-though aviary and an impressive bird collection. A new exhibit since I last visited is the Amazon. Includes marmosets, toucans, frogs, fish and inverts, as well as capybaras and kinkajous. However you will pay amusement park prices for admission, around $36 Australian/US. I'm not aware of any other similar attractions in Hong Kong, my wife who grew up in HK had a small zoo attached to her school but that is long gone.
Hi Guys, We just got back from HK, and we had a grand old time. Disneyland is really tiny (and lame) compared to Dreamworld and Movieworld in Australia (and I assume the other Disney parks around the world). We didn't want to get wet, so we did not bother to go on the animatronic river safari ride. Ocean Park was a memorable experience, because it was the first time that we saw giant pandas. Beautiful animals. The rainforest enclosure was excellent, because I think that it was the first time that I had ever seen a toucan and toucanet. I went to the free-flight bird show twice, just to see the green-winged macaws, the eagle owl, and the moluccan cockatoo. The free HK Zoological Park was remarkably well-presented for a free zoo. There were a few primates that I had never seen before, as well as orangutans. The birds, as MRJ noted, were behind 2 layers of wires so they were very difficult to see and photograph. Funnily enough, the most memorable animal was the common racoon - another first for me. The free walk-through aviary in HK Park was partially closed for renovations, so half an hour in there was enough. There were a few lories/lorikeets, one alexandrine parrot and lots of pigeons. The stand-out specie was the Bali mynah - gorgeous bird! Funnily enough, my favourite HK experience (after eating in a Michelin starred restaurant for $20pp) was seeing the Lesser Sulphur Crested cockatoo in the wild around HK Park. Given that they are critically endangered in their home range in Indonesia, I wonder if this introduced population could have some conservation value.... Thanks for all the suggestions guys. Much appreciations.
I'm off to HK on Wednesday from Bangkok for 4 days and was going to start a thread enquiring about the animal attractions there, however this thread seems to cover it. I had already researched Ocean park, HK Zoo, the Edward Youde Aviary and Kadoorie Farm so I suppose that's about it, although I've also read about a wetland area which is meant to be good for wild birds?
if that's the Mai Po marshes, you need to get a permit to visit. Something worth thinking about is the dolphin watch for the pink humpback dolphins. It's quite cheap and has a high success rate. Go with the official boat though and not one of the cowboys.
