Manila Zoo reopens; entrance fee hiked

MANILA, Philippines — The Manila Zoo reopened to the public yesterday after a much needed rehabilitation, but residents were dismayed over the increase in entrance fee.

Mayor Honey Lacuna led the reopening of the zoo.

The increase in entrance fee at the Manila Zoo also disappointed some netizens, especially the residents who last visited the zoo for less than P100.

Non-Manila residents who used to pay P100 before the pandemic need to shell out P300 to visit the refurbished zoo.

Manila adult residents will be charged P150. Persons with disabilities and the elderly will get a discount.

Children will be charged P100 and P250 for city resident and non-Manila resident, respectively.

The city government defended the entrance fee increase, citing the redevelopment of the zoo and its new features.

Lacuna said the increase in fees would boost the city’s revenue collection as well as make the zoo financially self-sufficient.

The zoo features an Animal Museum, Botanical Garden and Butterfly Garden. This is the only renovation of the zoo since it opened in 1959, with glass enclosures for the animals, elevated viewing decks and pathways for the public.

In January 2019, former Manila mayor Joseph Estrada ordered the closure of the zoo after then environment secretary Roy Cimatu tagged the zoo’s sewage as a major pollutant in Manila Bay.

The succeeding mayor, Isko Moreno, ordered a renovation of the zoo with P1.7 billion funding.

The zoo’s new design was inspired by an undergraduate thesis by University of Santo Tomas architecture graduate Kevin Siy.

Siy wanted to make the zoo closer to the animals’ natural habitat, and give its longtime resident Mali a bigger, loam sand pen to cushion her feet.

The zoo also houses “Kois,” an anagram of Moreno’s nickname, the white Siberian tiger donated by the Safari and Adventure Park in Pampanga.

The Siberian tiger is considered endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species.