Previously I stated that there is a worse zoo in Manila than the actual Manila Zoo itself. It is the Malabon Zoo. I have visited this collection a couple of times and it was as bad on both visits. It is the sort of place that would shock the socks off the average Westerner. But folks there are worse zoos than this believe me. I actually do believe that they care about the animals here...love them even. It is just that they do not have a clue. If I could have week in here and a promise that they would implement the few almost cost free changes I would suggest the animals would have a better life.
I visited Malibon Zoo yesterday. Admittedly it was a wet afternoon, but I felt that all the animals could be better housed. Most had insufficient living space. Domestic geese shared their few square meters with turkeys. Neither species should be on concrete. There was nowhere for the turkeys to dust bathe, and the matted feathers of the geese showed poor washing facilities. What I could not understand was the apparent perfect condition of some Night Herons, confined to cages little more than a meter cube, with barred floors and no furniture beyond a perch and a water bowl. Only one of the several Tigers had space to walk around. Another Tiger appeared morbidly obese. Apart from some Cockatoos in big domestic type parrot cages, the only animals in really good condition seemed to be the fish, of which the best was an Arowana some six feet long, hard to see the whole fish in green water!
There was a big brown Cloud Rat (which I need to identify) in what Peter calls an 'evil Philippine Dog Cage', which actually looked in reasonable condition. There was also a single Philippine Cockatoo. There may be Orangs but I didn't see them, probably just as well.
