In Pictures: Pata Shopping Mall Zoo In Bangkok
A trip to the zoo should be a fun day out, right? Well, a visit to Pata Zoo in Bangkok soon knocks that theory into oblivion.
This rooftop zoo is a sad place. Yes, I said rooftop. Pata Zoo is to be found on the 6th and top floor of the Pata Shopping Mall in the northern suburbs and has been described as “hell for animals” by campaigners who want to close it.
Entry costs around $6 / £4, or $1.20 / 80p for locals, and as you enter you suddenly realise what you have just unconsciously contributed towards – an animal prison.
The zoo is home to over 200 rare and exotic species including orangutans, pythons, turtles, flamingos, monkeys, leopards, tigers, bears and even a Shetland pony.
As you wander round you’ll see a solitary penguin in a small air conditioned pen with a pool of water no bigger than a bath. A gorilla who has been living in it’s cramped concrete enclosure since 1984. A tiger caged in a pen no bigger than 10 metres long.
It would be almost impossible to exaggerate how poor the conditions are, yet, Pata Zoo is breaking no laws. The animals were all legally obtained, and the zoo has recently had its license extended.
The zoo first opened in 1984 and has remains a popular attraction for Thais and doesn’t appear in any tourist tour guides as far as I know of.
In 1992 the zoo came close to closure when a fire killed many animals held on the 6th floor. Those on the 7th floor survived, and unfortunately with that, so did the zoo.
The backgound music on this clip is very annoying but worth sharing as there are so few videos online.
Posted on September 6, 2010 | Filed Under Really
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