The Saigon Zoo is a place I find myself in a love-hate relationship with. For some context, it is a relatively huge piece of land smack in the middle of the bustling Ho Chi Minh City, doubling up as a Botanical Gardens. You might find it useful to read Chlidonias' account from 2017 as a lot of what he said still holds true. Many of the enclosures are simply appalling and disturbing to look at while other parts are strangely beautiful. The gardens are home to an array of wildlife, uncaged. It's a haven for dozens of bird species, in the middle of this concrete jungle. I rather enjoyed a peaceful morning watching various wild wader bird species on the lake such as lesser adjutant, painted stork, tens of pond herons, and gallinules. Originally I was skeptical of how wild these birds were until I later found a couple lesser adjutants flying around a mile away from the zoo. After consulting some fellow bird watchers, we concluded that these zoo birds were in fact wild. I'll post my species list soon.
