More animals but higher admission fees at Manila Zoo

The good news is that new animals are coming. The bad news is that the price of admission to Manila Zoo has increased.

A white-handed gibbon (Hylobates lar) and a pair of vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) will soon add to the attractions at the city-run zoo. In a few days, these primates coming from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources will join the popular elephant Mali, a lion cub, a hippopotamus and two hebras (zebra-horse hybrids), among other residents in the 5.5-hectare park on Quirino Avenue.

“Being an educational institution, we should have more variety than quantity of animals,” said James Albert Dichaves, director of the Manila Parks and Recreation Bureau which supervises the zoo.

There are currently 15 tigers that are up for trade, preferably with giraffes, rhinoceros and zebras, Dichaves told the Inquirer in an interview.

“Hopefully during our term, we can provide partners to our female zebra and hippopotamus, and improve the enclosures of the animals,” Dichaves said. “As for Mali, we are still waiting for the donation coming from Sri Lanka.”

Record earnings

The Manila Zoo reported a record-setting P1.1-million income on Christmas Day last year, which Dichaves attributed to the new animals, enclosure renovations and improved cleanliness of the area.

But with the approval of the city’s new revenue code, the entrance fee for non-Manila residents was increased from P40 to P100 starting Jan. 15, Dichaves said. He noted, however, that the new rate was still lower compared to Malabon Zoo’s P150.

For city residents, the ticket price went up from P20 to P60.

The last time Manila Zoo adjusted its entrance fees was about eight years ago, from P8 to P40, Dichaves recalled.