Guizhou Forest Wildlife Zoo

Red-crowned crane. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Guizhou Forest Wildlife Zoo is located in Guiyang's Xiuwen county in Guizhou province. The zoo is located at the edge of Sichuan and the Guizhou railway and the intersection of Guizun and Guibi highways, just 35 kilometers from Guiyang, capital of Guizhou province.

With a total area of more than 5,000 mu (333.33 hectares), Guizhou Forest Wildlife Zoo is a key project for Guiyang in developing forest ecotourism will also be a themed area of Jingyang Forest Park, a provincial forest park.

The zoo was registered in Xiuwen county in September 2004. In order to strengthen research on wildlife breeding, it cooperated with the Guizhou Wildlife and Forest Plant Management Station, Guizhou University, Guizhou Normal University, Guizhou Academy of Sciences, and other scientific institutions.

The zoo's first phase of construction includes four animal exhibition areas - the bird garden, which includes a waterfowl lake and pheasant garden; the rare animal exhibition area, which includes a giraffe garden, white tiger garden, primate museum, and an amphibian and reptile pavilion; the central leisure area, which includes a giant panda hall, monkey hill, science museums, and fast-food restaurants; and several animal performance venues including free range areas for large animals, mainly deer and wild cats.

The zoo houses more than 2,000 wild animals and 200 species, including rare beasts such as the Manchurian tiger, Asian elephant, South China tiger, Bengal tiger, golden snub-nosed monkey, giant panda, hoolock gibbon, white-checked gibbon, Francois' monkey, red-crowned crane, and many others.

Many of the performance venues are free and offer three performances a day from Monday to Friday, with an additional performance on weekends and holidays. The venues are as follows:

Sea lion performance venue: baby sea lions perform various actions such as waving, standing upside down while balancing a ball on the end of their noses, catching the circle, dolphin jump, and back flip.

Beast of prey performance venue: bears perform hurdling, kick dancing, and hula-hooping;

monkeys perform broom-pulling, somersaults, and bicycle-riding; tigers engage in collective meditation and ring-jumping.

Comprehensive performance venue: includes magic flywheel, ballet on a stool, hand standing, and Asian elephant football.

The free range area for large animals has the longest high trestle road in the country and is the best spot for visitors to watch wildlife safely and freely.

In order to bolster Guiyang's animal rescue services, scientific research, marketing, and education, the zoo has been continuously upgrading its software and hardware facilities.

So far, the zoo has introduced nine elephants, two hippopotamus, two East African giraffes, two North African giraffes, 11 zebras, ten lesser pandas, and many other animals.

It is the only zoo in Guizhou province to have such a large area and variety of wildlife. It is classified as a national 4A scenic spot, national water conservancy scenic spot, national science education base, youth science and technology education base for Guizhou province, youth science and technology education base for the city of Guiyang, domestication and breeding base for national first and second class protected animals, and leading provincial forestry enterprise in Guizhou.

The zoo is the most important rescue station for precious animals in Guizhou province. Every year, it helps the Guizhou Forestry Department and Guizhou Public Security Department rescue hundreds of animals of various kinds.

Adult ticket: 120 yuan per person (includes children and adults over 1.5 meters)

Child ticket: 60 yuan per person (includes children between 1.2 and 1.5 meters; elderly between 60 and 69 years old)

Free ticket for children under 1.2 meters (accompanied by guardian), elderly over 70 years old (accompanied by youngster), soldiers in active military service and disabled people (with valid documents).

Note: each adult ticket can include one child under 1.2 meters

Opening hours

Working days: 9:00--18:00

Holidays: 8:00--18:00