Angkor Zoo Angkor Zoo, Cambodia

This is taken from my blog from last year's trip to Asia...

On the way to Angkor I got a little sidetracked. Halfway along the road between the checkpoint and Angkor itself I suddenly saw a big sign that somehow I'd completely missed the last two days. The sign said "Angkor Zoo". Well, what was I to do?

I cycled down the rutted dirt road, kind of dreading the conditions I might see at the zoo, but it turned out to not be too bad. It certainly isn't a first-class zoo, or even a second-class zoo. Not even a third-class zoo. But the animals are obviously looked after to the best of the keepers' abilities. Its very easy (and necessary) to criticise certain conditions in zoos in the more well-off countries like Singapore or Thailand or, even more so, America or England, and say this cage isn't up to standard and you shouldn't have that animal in there and so on, but in a poor country like Cambodia its a bit harder. A few of the cages here were shockingly awful -- the leopard in what was basically a concrete bunker with a strip of mesh along each side for light, and the macaque cages were just empty concrete-floored squares. But most of the animals weren't too badly off. It was only a little zoo but the reptiles had lots of room in pools or aviary-style cages (the monitors were very fat and presumably didn't mind being where they were!), the water birds like storks and ducks and herons had lots of room in open yards, the flying birds and fruit bats had reasonable aviaries. Apart for some domestic animals like geese, a pig and a guinea pig, all the animals were local species and I got the feeling that they were mostly donated by the local people or had been rescued, or had maybe even been confiscated from people keeping them illegally. One of the three sun bears (in a too small cage) had a missing hind paw from a land mine. Unfortunately the only person who spoke English quite well was a young girl who disappeared after telling me about the bear, so I couldn't find out much. Another little girl showed me round, pointing out the animals in each cage, but she didn't really speak English. Before I left I gave her a dollar for her help. The zoo itself only cost two dollars. The signage was of course restricted to a simple name-plate in Cambodian, sometimes with English underneath as a concession for what are probably very few foreign visitors. Not all of the English names were right, but I guess that was mostly due to animals being moved or replaced. My two favourite signs were the one saying "(Turkey?)" on an aviary for quail, and one saying "strange snake head of boa body of cobra" (there was a python in the cage; I'd love to know what the sign was actually for). There were lots of crocodiles (they must have got a bulk deal!), lots of porcupines, lots of birds, and lots of the horrible red bitey ants, the kind that make their way silently up to the back of your neck before stinging you. I hate those guys! The saddest thing in the zoo was a female pileated gibbon who kept sitting on the ground against the side of her cage and bouncing her back off the wire. She seemed starved for company; when a young wild macaque walked alongside the cage she scrambled over and followed it closely around until it left (I assume she wanted its company and not to eat it!). There was a big cage being erected in the middle of the zoo which I hoped was to be for the leopard. There is lots that could be done to improve the place for the animals but I think they're doing the best they can. Its just a huge shame that some of the hundreds of thousands of dollars pouring into Angkor from the tourists' pockets can't be directed here for the animals.

 

well I wouldn't describe anything about the Angkor Zoo as 'great', but the water birds (storks, herons, darter, spot-billed pelican) that I listed in the Khao Kheow thread are the ones they have. There's a few ducks (I can't remember the species offhand). Other birds are just typical Asian ones (pied hornbill would be the most interesting). I couldn't get any information about anything there because no-one really spoke any English. Bear in mind that it is a very small and very poor zoo (in a monetary sense) in a third-world country. The cages are generally terrible and the animals look poorly cared-for but in reality I think the staff are doing their very best for the animals. If you do go let me know what the large structure (cage?) that was being erected in the centre of the zoo was for.

 

I've just put some 2006 photos from Angkor Zoo in the "Other Asian Zoos" section of the Gallery

 

that gibbon was really sad. It just sat in the same place on the ground constantly bouncing its back off the wire. I suspect it was a confiscated or donated pet that had gone insane. The worst cages by far though were the three bunkers for leopards etc. But like I said above, most of the animals seemed well cared for and most had reasonable space. Most of the conditions there appeared to be a consequence of lack of funds.

I think the green water is a combination of massive amounts of algae and no filtration. I'm not sure if the water in those pools would ever get changed, and the croc one in particular would have heaps of nutrients going in to feed the algal blooms. Didn't appear to bother the animals though.

 

apparently the Angkor Zoo was closed down by officials in 2007 and the animals relocated to other zoos
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18468496/ns/world_news-world_environment/
although confusingly much more recent sites (including from this year) suggest it is still there, like this one http://siemreapcambodia.net/angkor-zoo-destination/85-angkor-zoo.html
(the acronym mentioned in the article, PTWRC, stands for Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Center, a zoo near Phnom Penh)
In that article it does sound like a much larger site, so maybe there is a new Angkor Zoo?

 

It absolutely doesn't state that. In fact it specifically says "The zoo was ordered to be closed by the Cambodian government in 2007 because of the complaints about the conditions and the numerous animal deaths and disappearances."

The only thing on that page which says 2011 is the date of when Peter uploaded his account, which was simply transferred over from his old travel blog, which was from a visit to Angkor around 2006 or 2007.