Tags: Zoos and Animal Sanctuaries
By Alexander Villafania
MANILA, METRO MANILA – Those who grew up in the province remember going to the Manila Zoo as a kid when visiting the city. Decades later, this once famous landmark is now in dire need of rehabilitation.
Growing up in Pangasinan, I remember my first visit to the Manila Zoo was in 1985 with my cousins and it was one of the most fun moment I’ve had as a kid. There we saw many of the exotic animals that are not indigenous to the Philippines, including the elephant, lions, chimpanzees and orangutans. The spherical aviary was a burst of colors as different birds showed off their feathers.
Back then, there was no Internet so we only get to read about these animals when visiting the nearest public library for dusty textbooks, outdated magazines and heavy volumes of encyclopedias
Through the years, I read about the Manila Zoo’s gradual decay due to the lack of budget to spend for its maintenance. There were stories of animals becoming sick simply because their their cages were not kept clean. Like Sisi, the zoo’s only orangutan who died last year, reportedly after becoming mentally traumatized living in a small cage for more than a decade.
Last summer, I visited Manila Zoo for the second time as part of a group project for my Ateneo graduate degree. My group expected little from Manila Zoo, despite reading that there had been rehabilitation. Some of us were skeptical that the Manila Zoo, after years of neglect, would look the same as 10 years ago, or even better.
Likewise, it felt as if we have seen more about exotic animals from watching cable TV and from stories in the web. To me, going to the zoo is uneventful and perhaps more of a sordid visit to a cemetery.
As we arrived at the zoo, I clearly remembered much of the details of the main entrance. There is the huge statue of an Igorot hunter, carrying a live but strangely serene deer on his shoulders. The welcome sign was still there but only repainted and the entrance price somewhat updated (residents pay P20 adults, while non-residents pay P40 – a surprisingly cheap cost even by amusement park standards).
The parking space can only fit up to 50 or so cars and there were no nearby parking lots. There is a sort of playground for kids in front but it was littered with homeless people.
The view from the entrance is nothing close to Disneyland, but it was still a respectable. The elephant, Mali, is the first to greet the visitors. Despite being decades old, Mali the elephant seems to be happy, reaching out to some kids. A terrarium, which housed the snakes, turtles, and other reptiles, is near the elephant cage. Most of the information boards are already worn out and you can barely read what’s written in them.
In the middle remains the old aviary and nearby, a few relatively new cages that house larger species of birds, such as ostriches and larger peacocks. Along the way, some of the old cages have been somewhat refurbished – more like repainted – and the signs have been replaced with newer ones.
The more thematic area for “water creatures” is composed of a housing for a hippopotamus and of course, the saltwater crocodile. It was at that very moment that the zookeepers were going to feed the two crocs in their cages – with live chickens. We thought that the big crocodile was slow, not realizing that it had already the live chicken in its jaws even before it landed on the water.
After watching the croc have its ‘merienda’ or snack, my group went to the cages of the big cats, the lions and tigers. These are the biggest enclosures in the zoo. No wonder, because tigers are known to be able to jump 20 feet high, so the 40 feet high walls would be enough to deter any attempt at escape. Still, I find it sad that the tigers are kept in such enclosures. They are natural hunters, roaming in hundreds of acres of forests for prey.
The monkey cages, sadly, are among the most unkempt areas in the zoo. The monkeys are naturally curious and get agitated easily. Many of the visitors tease the monkeys, who take vengeance by throwing food or worse, their own excrement at people. The most badly treated primate there was of course, Sisi the orangutan, whose tiny cage is barely enough to swing around. It would be the last time that I’d see Sisi alive as she died a month later.
It took only two hours for my group to complete our journey in the zoo. Dr. Agerico Sebastian, a veterinarian at the zoo, says they can only do so much for the animals. There are plans to increase entrance fees but he is hoping the government can increase the budget so they can take care of the animals better.
I felt sad for the animals but nonetheless, the Manila Zoo is still a good place to visit once in a while. If only as a reminder for people like me who’s had fond memories of it as a kid.
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LOL. tigers cant jump 20 high!! how come tigers can jump as high as 4 people standing on each others head,, tigers cant jump as high as the 2nd floor of the building!!! have you seen the tiger sanctuary in india that has only 2 meters high steel fence?? i think manila zoo should be stopped because the animals were not given their basic needs and their enclosures were rusty and litter-filled…