The Yangon Zoo (Yangon Zoo) ( my, ရန်ကုန် တိရိစ္ဆာန် ဥယျာဉ် ) is the oldest and the second largest
zoo
A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for Conservation biology, conservation purposes.
The term ''zoological g ...
in
Myanmar
Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...
. Located immediately north of downtown
Yangon
Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...
near
Kandawgyi Lake
Kandawgyi Lake ( my, ကန်တော်ကြီး ; literally "great royal lake", formerly Royal Lake), is one of two major lakes in Yangon, Burma (Myanmar). Located east of the Shwedagon Pagoda, the lake is artificial; water from Inya Lake ...
, the recreational park also includes a
museum of natural history
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more ...
, an
aquarium
An aquarium (plural: ''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. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...
and an
amusement park
An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
.
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, my, ရန်ကုန် ပြည်သူ့ ဆေးရုံကြီး) is a major public hospital in a compound in Yangon, Myanmar. The 2,000-bed hospital consists of seven medical wards, three surgical ...
. Funded by a public donation of 240,000
kyat
The kyat (, or ; my, ကျပ် ; 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 " /-"
The term ''kyat'' derives from th ...
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 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
.
The major attraction at the opening was the white elephant of
King Thibaw
Thibaw Min, also Thebaw or Theebaw ( my, သီပေါမင်း, ; 1 January 1859 – 19 December 1916) was the last king of the Konbaung dynasty of Burma (Myanmar) and also the last Burmese monarch in the country's history. His re ...
, 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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. 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.]
Attractions
Land animals
The zoo has 145 species of land animals,tiger
The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...
, 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 g ...
, Asian elephant
The Asian elephant (''Elephas maximus''), also known as the Asiatic elephant, is the only living species of the genus ''Elephas'' and is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the no ...
, the Burmese large tortoise
Tortoises () are reptiles of the family Testudinidae of the order Testudines (Latin: ''tortoise''). Like other turtles, tortoises have a turtle shell, shell to protect from predation and other threats. The shell in tortoises is generally hard, ...
, the great hornbill
Hornbills (Bucerotidae) are a family (biology), family of bird found in tropical and subtropical Africa, Asia and Melanesia. They are characterized by a long, down-curved bill which is frequently brightly coloured and sometimes has a Casque (an ...
, 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 southern Iran to the Indian subcontinent, where it inhabits marshes ...
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, is ...
).
Flora
In 2000, the zoo had over 300 species of flora
Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''.
E ...
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 via 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 proce ...
, specializing in rare species of Burmese fauna
Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is '' funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as '' biota''. Zoo ...
with explanatory charts and captions. Many of the curators are postgraduate students of zoology from the University of Yangon
'')
, mottoeng = There's no friend like wisdom.
, established =
, type = Public
, rector = Dr. Tin Mg Tun
, undergrad = 4194
, postgrad = 5748
, city = Kamayut 11041, Yangon
, state = Yangon Regio ...
.
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.
References
{{authority control
Zoos in Myanmar
Buildings and structures in Yangon
1906 establishments in Burma
Zoos established in 1906