Dusit Zoo

Dusit Zoo is one of the most popular attractions in Bangkok. It is Thailand’s oldest zoo and is visited by 2.5 million people every year. Thais themselves and foreign tourists come here, and of course, there are many parents with children visiting the zoo. Dusit’s calling cards are the white tiger and the small albino muntjaki deer.

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By the standards of a huge metropolis, the territory of Dusit Zoo is not so large. It covers only 18.88 hectares. In addition to aviaries and cages with animals, there is an educational center, an animal museum and a veterinary hospital.

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Video: Dusit Zoo

Contents

Highlights

Visitors can view animals and birds, ride water catamarans on small ponds, relax in the cafe and participate in feeding the animals. The feeding of large mammals leaves a particularly strong impression. Hippos with huge mouths carefully accept fresh vegetables, greens and watermelons directly from the hands of tourists. On the ponds, adults and children feed bread to turtles and huge flocks of fish, and nearby freely walk large varanas.

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Walking in the park area is very pleasant. There are many tall trees around the ponds and along the walkways that provide excellent shade. After the hot streets of Bangkok, a walk through Dusit becomes a heavenly experience. Visitors can breathe fresh air and enjoy birdsong, and those who are tired of walking can always get to the right part of the park by a small auto-train.

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Since Dusit Zoo welcomes many children, there is a playground with rides for them. The zoo has enclosures with common spotted cows, mini horses, sheep and small goats. Baby pets are allowed to be fed from a bottle with milk. If desired, zoo guests can watch an elephant show and ride these calm animals.

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History of Dusit Zoo

In the late 19th century, King Rama V of Thailand traveled to many countries around the world. During his visits to Europe, he was very impressed by the gardens in the big cities. In 1895, by order of the Thai king in Bangkok, in front of the royal residence Chitralada, was laid a garden called “Khao Din Wana”, which means “Forest on the Earth Mountain”. The fact is that during the construction of the garden, the workers dug several canals and ponds. From the excavated land in the middle of the park they built a mountain or “Khao Din”, and when trees were planted here, the forest was “Wana”. In the beginning, the garden area was connected to the royal palace, and only members of the royal family and their entourage spent time in the shady corner, near flower beds.

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During the reign of Thai monarch Rama VII, the green garden was greatly expanded. In 1932, after the country transitioned to a constitutional monarchy, Field Marshal Phibun Songkram proposed to the current king, Rama VIII, that the garden be made available to the public.

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The monarch agreed to this decision and donated some animals from his personal collections. This is how the first crocodiles, spotted deer and monkeys arrived at the royal garden. In addition, it was decided to show visitors the royal elephants on Sundays. On March 18, 1938, the garden was opened to the people of Bangkok. Since then, the place has been known as Dusit Zoo.

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Nowadays, Bangkok’s oldest zoo is included in the country’s zoological parks organization. In addition to Dusit, this organization coordinates the open-air Khao Kheow Zoo near the resort of Pattaya, as well as zoos in Chiang Mai, Songkhla and Nakhonratchasim (Korat).

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Collections of animals and birds

Dusit Zoo staff managed to house 1,600 species of animals in a small area. True, they all occupy rather cramped aviaries and cages, and this is what makes Dusit different from modern zoos. However, the conditions of keeping animals meet all international standards. In favor of this is the fact that many local animals and birds successfully breed in captivity.

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In the Bangkok Zoo you can see animals that live on the territory of Thailand, as well as exotic for the country zebras, koalas, camels, kangaroos and penguins. Of the primates, the Dusit Zoo houses gibbons, saimiri, langurs, orangutans, chimpanzees, rhesus macaques and crab-eating macaques. Next to them live graceful Bengal cats, tigers, pandas, lions, leopards, tapirs, red wolves, meerkats and loris. The enclosures are home to spotted linsangs, binturongs, Malay bears, porcupines, civets, otters, mongooses and giant squirrels.

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To make it easier to observe giraffes, gorillas and orangutans, a two-story walkway has been built next to their enclosures. Walking along it, visitors find themselves at the level of the giraffes’ heads and can feed the African giants directly from their hands.

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The bird collection at Dusit Zoo is impressive. There are 842 species of birds here, brought from different parts of the world. However, not all of them are kept in captivity. On the branches of trees and paths sit many big-billed crows, locust starlings – mynahs and tiny amadins. And in the crowns of trees near the ponds like to make their nests large storks.

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Information for visitors

Dusit Zoo is open any day from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm. 2-3 hours is enough to go around its entire territory. The ticket for foreigners costs 150 baht for an adult and 70 baht for a child. Note that pets are not allowed to walk in Dusit, and smoking and drinking alcohol is subject to a 2000 baht fine.

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The zoo has excellent infrastructure and is signposted in Thai and English. Free toilets are available in various corners of the zoo.

Where to eat

Dusit Zoo sells drinking water, carbonated drinks, sweets and snacks on the grounds of Dusit Zoo. Those who want to have lunch can check out the food court, where traditional Thai cuisine is prepared, and they are quite inexpensive – only 40-60 baht. In addition, right in the zoo works popular with the most Thais and tourists grocery store “7-11”.

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For fans of fast food, there is a KFC restaurant here. Curiously, its visitors are more often not foreigners, but the Thais themselves. The fact that fried chicken in breading is one of the favorite dishes of the locals. Several large, big-billed crows are usually on duty near the exit of KFC. These enterprising birds keep a close eye on customers and steal food from those who stray.

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How to get there

The Dusit Zoo grounds are located near the intersection of two major Bangkok highways, Rama V Road and Ratchawithi Road. From the BTS Victoria Monument overground subway station to the zoo entrance, it’s not difficult to walk to the zoo in 25-30 minutes. The same distance can be traveled by city buses No. 12 and 18 or by cab.

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