Songkhla zoo is the largest zoo in the South of Thailand and is the best place to see zoo animals in the area. It is a relatively new collection having first opened its gates to the public in 1989. It is one of the very few Thai zoos which are members of the Zoological Park Organisation and as such sets itself apart from the purely exploitative commercial collections which are so common in the country. Songkhla has committed itself to a genuine conservation role and does have educational input.
The collection covers around 145 hectares and houses about 160 species. The zoo is an uphill trip out of the town and so gives some beautiful views down and out over the sea.
This is one of a series of zoo reports that was actually included within my travel journal ‘The Itinerant ZooKeeper’. Initially I started to extract the zoo data but found the reading was diminished by it. So look on it as a zoo travelogue. The only major edits I have done is a little censoring and to remove the Casanova exploits.