Thao Cam Vien (Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens)

The "green lung" in the heart of Ho Chi Minh City and one of the 8 oldest zoos in the world

Thao Cam Vien Sai Gon is the eighth oldest zoo in the world and one of the most venerable cultural and historical sites in Ho Chi Minh City. The area was originally about 12 hectares of wasteland beside the Thi Nghe canal. In 1864, Admiral De La Grandiere entrusted the veterinarian Louis Adolphe Germain with turning it into a plant nursery and an animal keeping area. By 1865 the botanical garden was essentially complete under the management of the botanist J.B. Louis Pierre, with many native and introduced plant species collected and cultivated. Cages for birds and animals were gradually built as well, giving rise to the familiar name "the zoo". The site was later thoroughly renovated and officially took the name Thao Cam Vien in 1956. It now cares for more than 2,000 trees, some 321 plant species (29 of them listed in the Vietnam Red Data Book and by the IUCN) along with 1,896 animals belonging to 127 species. It conserves many rare species such as the Asian elephant, the yellow-cheeked gibbon, the hog deer, the Asian golden cat, the crested argus, the Asian golden cat, the red-shanked douc and the grey-shanked douc. Besides its displays, the centre takes in hundreds of rescued animals from many places every year. Thao Cam Vien also serves as a "green classroom" on biodiversity through conservation education programmes such as out-of-school lessons for school and university students.

English text: machine translation from the Localis platform — proper names kept in Vietnamese.