Manila Zoo


The Manila Zoo, formally known as the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden, is a zoo located in Malate, Manila, Philippines that opened on July 25, 1959.

Animals

The Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden is home to about a thousand animals from 90 species as of April 2015. The zoo's most popular resident is Mali, an Asian elephant who arrived at the zoo in 1977 as 3 year old calf trans ported from Sri Lanka, after her herd abandoned her and saved by pinnawala elephant orphanage from the jungle.
Other Animals residing in Manila Zoo includes a Bengal tiger, Malayan civet, monitor lizard and hippopotamus. Many of the animals of the zoo were born in captivity with three month-old juveniles recently born in April 2015. The zoo management is planning to transfer many of its animals to a separate breeding area or sanctuary outside Metro Manila due to over congestion in the zoo. The zoo is planned to be just an exhibit area.

Wildlife Rescue Center

The Wildlife Rescue Center serves as temporary shelter and repository for confiscated, donated, retrieved, sick, injured and abandoned wildlife species. The Wildlife Rescue Center has been the subject of public scrutiny in regard to their animal welfare standards.

Botanical Garden

The Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden is home to many plant collections, from the botanically rich and diverse Philippine Islands and South Pacific region.
The Kinder Zoo within Manila Zoo was a result of a private-public partnership between Kinder Zoo, Inc. and the city government. Kinder Zoo, Inc. redeveloped of the zoo into an area named Kinder Zoo. The area was designed as a child-friendly area where children can interact with some animals of the zoo. The area featured a butterfly sanctuary, a hanging bridge, a flamingo pond, a barn for events, and a petting zoo upon its opening on June 23, 2000.

Animal Welfare

The Manila Zoo by law must operate in accordance to the Animal Welfare Act of 1998. The purpose of the Act is to ensure that all terrestrial, aquatic and marine animals in the Philippines have their physical and psychological needs met in ways that promote well-being. Inquiries have been made into the compliance of the Manila Zoo with this Act.

Criticism

The zoo has been criticized due to its inadequate animal care and dirty surroundings. The zoo is responding with efforts to make the animal habitats as comfortable and natural as possible, such as by adding trees and vegetation, and expanding the enclosures.

Treatment of Mali the Elephant

Mali is the only Elephant in the Manila zoo, known as the world's loneliest elephant and the only captive elephant in the Philippines, and she is the subject of a campaign from animal rights organization, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. A report issued by PeTA points out the numerous issues regarding Mali being kept in captivity.

Calls for the closure of the zoo

In 2007 PeTA called for the boycott and closure of Manila Zoo as part of its global campaign against zoos claiming that zoos are never beneficial to animals. The animal rights group supported proposals to convert the zoo into a sporting coliseum to be used by the Philippine Basketball Association. Some local vendors operating in the zoo opposed PeTA's calls citing its negative effect on their livelihood and then Mayor Alfredo Lim said calls to close the zoo, which he described as a city landmark, were unwarranted and claimed that the zoo's animals were well taken care of.

2019 closure

From January 21, 2019, Manila Zoo was ordered an indefinite closure until further notice by Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada after the Department of Environment and Natural Resources identified it as a major pollutant of Manila Bay. The zoo was closed to the public from January 23, 2019 with construction of water treatment facilities and sewerage treatment plants since the zoo was found to be dumping untreated sewage into an estuary that empties into the bay.

Rehabilitation

During the administration of Mayor Estrada, it was reported that a total of 1.5 billion pesos would be allocated for the rehabilitation of the 5.5 hectare botanical park. However, this project was put on hold.
Plans for the rehabilitation of the zoo once again surfaced following the election of Isko Moreno as mayor. On July 2020, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the rehabilitation and redevelopment of the zoo. The project's budget is 1.7 billion pesos and is expected to be finished in 19 months. The future zoo would feature a 30-foot waterfall in the lagoon, a big cat enclosure, a Philippine endemic marsupial exhibit, a monkey enclosure and a restaurant.