Newly-renovated Manila Zoo set to have soft opening on December 30

Wazzup Pilipinas!?

Manila Zoo has a new look after its P1.8-billion face lift which began in 2019.

Manila Mayor Isko Moreno shared in a Facebook post on Wednesday a sneak peek at the soon-to-open new Manila Zoo during his quick tour at the site on Tuesday.

"Sa mga Manileño at lahat ng Pilipino, you deserve the best. Ang galing talaga ng Pilipinong manggagawa! Sana po magustuhan ninyo at ng pamilya niyo ang bagong Manila Zoo. Opening soon! :Advance Merry Christmas po" - Manila Mayor Isko Moreno.

Moreno and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna visited the Manila Zoological and Botanical Garden on Tuesday night. The redeveloped facility aims to compete with the famous Singapore Zoo. The new Manila Zoo has its own sewage treatment plant.

Excited ka na ba? Malapit na muling mapasyalan ang bagong ayos na Manila Zoo!

The soft opening of the new Manila Zoo will be on Dec. 30, with families of 1,300 zoo construction workers to be treated as VIP guests.

The renovated zoo will have an Animal Museum, Botanical Garden, and Butterfly Garden. Moreno says Manila zoo, which he notes is patterned after Singapore Zoo, has a "state of the art sewage treatment plant" after the zoo was flagged for dumping untreated waste to Manila.

The public can expect elevated viewing decks, an animal museum, botanical and butterfly gardens, as well as a separated space for Filipino endemic animals and birds.

Mali, Manila Zoo’s lone elephant, gets a bigger enclosure with a bath and play area.

But the old portion of Mali’s enclosure has yet to be renovated as zoo keepers are having a hard time in encouraging the 49-year-old elephant to walk into her new home.

The zoo's only elephant who lived in a concrete enclosure for 40 years, is here to stay despite calls from animal rights groups to relocate her to a sanctuary.

"The entire Manila Zoo measures only 0.055 square kilometers, and Mali's enclosure is one small piece of that. For her physical well-being, Mali needs grass to cushion her aching joints and room to move, not a cramped pen," PETA says.

For years PETA has been calling on the city government to free Mali, who has suffered "potentially fatal cracked nails and foot pads, which are open to infection, and overgrown cuticles" due to living in a concrete enclosure for over four decades.

Zoo management said that tickets may have to be booked in advance as part of the park’s measures to curb the spread of #COVID19 within the park.

No one really cared about Manila Zoo until today. I really appreciate Isko Moreno for this. We should do more like this to preserve our animals and treat them with care. Excited to see if there will be a animal research facility soon. Naway maganda at kumportable ang mga animal enclosure sa newly renovated Manila Zoo.

Ang ganda po. Salamat po sa pag restore at pagpapaganda ng Manila Zoo. I pray na mawala na ang Covid19 so i can bring my family to enjoy this new zoo. We've been to Singapore zoo a few years back so I would want them to enjoy the one in our own country too. Naalala ko 'yung Night Safari sa Singapore, puro Pinoy crew nila kaya pwede natin dito gawin sa Manila Zoo.

After years of neglect, I can finally take my children to Manila Zoo!

Excellent job po, Mayor Isko!

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