Zoo, Chiang Mai

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This modern zoo is set among forests, lakes & waterfalls. You can either walk around or ride in an open sided bus. A monorail can be taken for an aeriel view, this costs extra.

The zoo is home to Asian & African mammals as well as a walk-through aviary, koalas & a children's zoo. There is also a huge aquarium which houses many different types of tropical fish. In parts of the aquarium you can get up really close to them by walking through a tunnel underneath the water.

My highlight though was the panda house, this costs extra. Here you can get up close to the 2 giant pandas (see my video).

The zoo is open daily with an admission fee.

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Chiang Mai Zoo is at the foothills of Doi Sutep mountain so it can sometimes be a bit of a struggle walking around. We walked for awhile then headed for the nearest open air bus!!

This zoo is the first zoo in Thailand to house koalas from Australia and there is also a nice Australia section with kangaroos, emus etc.

The main reason we went to the zoo was to see the Giant Panda's from China.
The enclosure is fantastic and they have their own keeper who lives on site.

This zoo is a huge improvement on Phuket's sad zoo. The animals have great enclosures with plenty of room.
There is a children's zoo, open enclosures, aquariums and a magnificent walk through aviary

Entry fees for foreigners are 100baht and children 50baht.
Plus there is another charge of 100baht to see the Giant Pandas and children half price.

More Chiang Mai Zoo Photos.,

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If you're looking for a relaxing and fun day, head to the Chiang Mai Zoo. It is a very pretty area with all manner of creatures, from reptiles to birds. I spend hours watching the hornbills jabber and talk and try to escape. They're quite intelligent creatures. And one of the highlights is the pair of pandas that were given to Thailand by the Chinese government for the Queen's birthday several years ago. They are housed in a modern facility with lots of space to play and romp in. Definitely a nice place to roam around without leaving the city limits.

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The zoo at Chiang Mai is a great visit if you are travelling with children - and possibly even without! We had a great day - and were pleased to see the animals so well cared for, and the really nice living environments they had - especially after the HoChiMinh zoo. Amazingly, the pandas cost several times more than the general zoo admission to see - as they were very special, and their environment was even sanitised - had to wash our shoes before entry, no flashlights, and general VIP treatment. 30Bt to enter the zoo - and 100Bt to see the Pandas!

One of the features of our visit was the giant orangutan, who was a spectacle in himself. He has a favoured diet of french breadsticks and red softdrink - sounds like plenty of hyper kids! He was a great catch - and he knew to leave the fizzy drink to settle, so it didn't spray everywhere! We watched him for ages!

Jump on a songthaew with the locals to and from this half day out!

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If you want to see the pandas, go very early in the morning, around 9:00 they are feeded and after this time they only sleep.
You can also see many other exotic animals like the white tiger, koalas etc.
Open daily 8am to 5pm.
Its located at the road that goes to Inthanon Doi Suthep
The entrance was 50 bht to the zoo and more to see the pandas. I dont remember how much.

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Since the arrival of two beautiful Panda's, the Chiang Mai Zoo is much more interesting. It is a real event in the city and most of Thai people living in and around Chiang Mai had a look on them. Originally coming from middle China, the female was born on 28 Sept. 2001; her weight is now:110 kg and her bodylenght is 153 cm. her name is Lin Hui in China and Theawee in Thai.
Her "husband" was born on 6 August 2000, his weight is now 150 kg. and bodylength 169 cm.
His name is Chuang Chuang in Chinese and Thaewan in Thai.
The whole population of Chiang Mai is now waiting for a happy event of small Panda bears, but up to now, April 07, they were not (yet) "motivated."
The management of the zoo separated the couple now for some weeks, hoping that at their new "meeting", IT will happen. I hope it will. If so, this will become a new national festival!

Chiang Mai Zoo is great place to spend a few hours. The Zoo is quite large and hilly so walking is a bit much in the heat. We hired a Tuk Tuk driver who took us to all the animal exhibits. We even got to hand feed a bunch of Hippo's. The Zoo has most animals including two Chinese Panda's which is a seperate entry but worth visiting. Just make sure it is around feeding time as they don't do much in between but sleep.

We were also able to feed mokeys, Gibbons and elephants. The Zoo has some great viewpoints overlooking all of the city. With a Tuk Tuk it only took a few hours to go through the whole Zoo.

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The Chiang Mai Zoo is quite unique in that its exhibits are carved out of the foothills of Doi Suthep. This creates a more natural feel for zoo and allows for some great views, but also makes walking around somewhat strenuous. They do offer a car service anywhere within the zoo for 20 baht/ride.

The exhibits themselves contain a wide variety of exotic animals, including an Indian Rhinocerous and Orangutans, though they leave a little to be desired in terms of cleanliness and creativity.

The main draw is the panda exhibit: Lin-Hui and Chuang-Chuang first moved into their new multi-million dollar air conditioned enclosure in 2003. Although there weren't many people when we were there in July, the exhibit is usually jam packed, so to avoid the crowds it's advisable that you arrive early.

Hours: Zoo open from 08:00 to 18:00
Panda exhibit open at 09:00 and closes a little earlier.

Transportation: Northwest of town, any red songthaew (pick-up taxi) can take you there and for about 20 baht each way. Tuk-Tuks are a little more.

Cost: 30 baht to enter the zoo, plus 100 baht to enter the panda exhibit

Bottom-line: A decent zoo in a very unique setting, can make for a nice half-day visit if you don't mind hiking a bit. Plus, the opportunity to see a giant panda is extremely rare; only 160 of them currently live in captivity.