|
HTML clipboard
Location: Ho Chi Minh City Zoo and
Botanical Garden is located on No.2 Nguyen Binh Khiem Street, District 1, Ho Chi
Minh City.
Characteristic: Ho Chi Minh City Zoo and Botanical Gardens was founded by
JB Louis Pierre, a famous French botanist.
Saigoneses like to call the Garden So thu. In Vietnamese it means "the
zoological park". Its official name however is the Thao Cam Vien. In Vietnamese
"Thao" means "plants and trees" and "Thu" means "animals": indicating that the
garden has both plants and animals. Construction of the garden started in March
1864 and it was opened in May 1865 on a 20ha area. Originally the garden was
solely concerned with the growing of some imported industrial plants such as
cacao, coffee, vanilla and rubber, as well as collecting exotic animals and
birds from tropical Vietnam for zoos in France. The press praised the garden as
one of the most beautiful parks in the Far East, second only to the Zoological
and Botanical Garden in Singapore. However, from 1942 to 1954, the Japanese and
French armies in turn used Thao Cam Vien as their barracks. During these twelve
years the cages were damaged and many animals and birds died from lack of care.
At this time also, many established old trees were cut down. Following the
Geneva Peace Agreement, the City restored the Thao Cam Vien. For the past twenty
years after the country's re-unification in 1975, the garden has expanded its
co-operation with many countries and organizations in the world. It has joined
the Southeast Asian Zoological Parks Association, it has regular contacts with
the Leipzig and Rostock zoos in Germany, it co-operates with the World Wildlife
Fund. Through exchange programmers, Vietnamese can now see, for the first time,
exotic animals and birds, which they could previously only see in films or
books. The garden's staffs spend a lot of time and effort studying their animals
and plants. They also make field trips to collect new plants and animals. The
Park forms a green space in the middle of the city. After the main entrance,
visitors will find themselves walking between two lines of tall nhac ngua trees.
On their left is the History Museum. On their right is the Temple of the Kings
Hung, founders of the Vietnamese nation. In the green houses orchids, cacti and
bonsai release their fragrances and show their beautiful colors. After visiting
the bird and animal cages, the visitors can stop and relax by the lake to enjoy
the scene of lotuses, water lilies, schools of carps, anabases and pikes. This
is a real blessing in the middle of a busy urban centre.
|
... Your services were excellent and very much appreciated. We were very happy with the results and the guides etc. My family is well and we are back in the US. Thank you for all the timely help...