阿必伦动物园

I went here with my 7 year old daughter and it was well worth it.Though make sure you research online how to get there because there are no signs until you are near the place. Take the Marikina - San Mateo - Rodriguez / Montalban road and just go straight. You'll eventually see a Total, and turn left. The signs to Noah's Park are good enough because Avilon is beside it.Get ready for a lot of trucks and jeeps along the way, so be patient.The zoo itself is clean and big. Lots of animals to see, though no alligators or elephants. They do have giraffes, zebras, big cats and bears. Very nice and when we were there not too many people.

I had been looking forward to visiting Avilon Zoo - being on the outskirts of Manila and touting itself as the largest zoo of the city I had imagined it making use of the natural surroundings to provide pleasant and spacious environments for the animals. No. Concrete and more concrete will be a lasting impression (although there are some areas of trees - no grass - for the visitors, even if not for the animals). It was not just concrete structures, but everything inside the cages and enclosures were too - whether bare surface or fashioned into fake trees). It took some time to get to the zoo; our GPS/satnav took us through San Mateo (along Gen Luna and JP Rizal Ave) but the Montalban and the Payatas/Manila Gravel Pit Rd is much easier/quicker - it would be nice to have some travel advice on the attraction website. The zoo is also apparently undergoing some major building and renovation works.Initial impressions were good with the toucans and pond immediately after the ticket office (where they apologised that they had no maps). Certainly there is a wide variety of species to view and the client area and the majority of the cages and enclosures were clean. There were some signs to direct around the grounds but not that many and more could be done to make it easier to navigate. Most if not all enclosures had signs to say which animal was inside (English and scientific name). Some gave information about where the animals came from. There was no further information about the natural habitat, behaviour, or interesting facts that could help to engender interest and increase knowledge about the animals. Guided tours may provided some of that information (there were buses with school groups on the Saturday morning we visited).It was disheartening to see leopard cats, cloud rats and other small mammals in small indoor enclosures with just fake concrete trees for their environment (with hollow interiors). No other textures, no soil or possible environmental interactions to stimulate them and many had no food or in some cases even water. Meerkats in small enclosures with not enough soil for them to engage in their natural digging behaviour. Crocodiles in small enclosures with hardly any water. A sole orangutan had a largish play area made of concrete fake tree trunks, but again no other stimulation in terms of toys, ropes or other objects. Was it all bad? No. Some antelope/deer and more common farm animals had 'adequate' space even if no grass or trees. It was probably the bird aviaries that were the best - finally some real trees and soil, a variety of species including local endemics and more than one or two lonesome specimens - although the raptor cages were sad to see. Having 12 Brahimny kites in a cage too small for 1 to fly around in was a case in point. And why are the peacocks in small cages hardly big enough for them to display their tails when most zoos would have them wandering around freely or in a large aviary? I love animals and often visit zoos for the experience even though I know that things will never be ideal for the animals, especially in lower income countries. Avilon is not the worst I have seen in Asia but is perhaps one of the most disappointing. Perhaps some of that is due to the hopes I had before arrival, but for all it's cleanliness for visitors and fauna, it has a lot to improve upon to show care and concern for its animals. In many ways is no better than Manila zoo. This may be one of the best zoos in the Philippines but those are not good standards to compare it to.I support the concept of zoos but I am afraid that Avilon gives the impression that there is nothing wrong depriving animals of their freedom, keeping them in small cages and not caring for their (mental) well-being (there is evidence of caring for their physical well-being). I did not enjoy my visit, will not be going back and won't recommend it to my friends.

I have been to the biological zoo in Singapore, the Night Safari, San Diego Zoo (both the regular zoo and the safari) and to several zoos in the Philippines. I would say hands down this is the best zoo in the Philippines and it is definitely at par with zoos around the world.The zoo is big, prepare to walk. The collection of animals is also good - Giraffe, lion, leopard, jaguar, bear, alligator, tigers, monkeys, birds, snakes, all sorts of reptiles, ostrich, zebras and many more. No elephant though. You can see that the animals are well taken care of and the smell is manageable. The food and drinks are reasonably priced. Bring cash if you want to feed animals. P50 for each type of animal you want to feed. P50 for picture taking also.Perhaps the only drawbacks are (1) location is far and the roads going there are small with really slow tricycles (2) no maps in the park to allow you to take the tour by yourself (a tour guide costs P400) (3) no toilet paper in the bathrooms.Overall, we had fun and would probably return if we get a chance.

This Zoo is really a two thumbs up for me and my kids. Very Clean almost all the animals where here. Cool place because there lots of trees and plants which the zoo keepers water them three times per day.My kids enjoy feeding the animals and holding the animals. We all enjoy our visit hear.

Having been to several zoos/farms in the country (namely, Paradizoo, Manila Zoo, Bluroze, etc), my family agrees that the Avilon Zoo is the best or maybe one of the best zoos in the Philippines. They have a big variety of animals. There were white swans, ducks, alligators, crocodiles, peafowls, snakes, turtles, giraffes, tigers, marmoset, tapir, meerkats, arapaimas, black bears, monkeys, birds, horses, zebras, macaques, and blackbucks. There was also a black swan, orangutan, jaguar, leopard, lion, sun bear, wallaby, and hippo. I hope they add elephants, gorillas, rhinoceros, Tasmanian devil, kangaroos in the future. Most of the habitats of the animals are well designed making sure it is spacious, clean, secure, and as natural for animals as possible. You could opt for a tour guide for Php400, especially if it is your first time, so that you do not miss any of the animals. Zoozoo, the hippo was a show-off with his/her big mouth. The giraffes Bhari and Luning were adorable. You can feed them. It is best to avoid the Marikina traffic to take the Batasan short cut from Commonwealth QC to get to the zoo in Rodriguez Rizal, past San Mateo. I hope the zoo will still be well maintained and preserved when our daughter visits again when she is a bit bigger. The entrance fee is P600 per person but we used an online half-off discount voucher which was worth it.

Our last visit to Avilon zoo was probably 10years ago. The traffic going was easy by Manila standards, Makati to Rodriguez took about 1.5hrs taking the Batasan route.The actual park time took us about 3hours visit. We saw lots of snakes, birds, pygmy hippo, zebra, giraffes, Black bear, crocodile, alligator, turtles, tortoise, urangutan, monkeys, cloud rats, farm animals, dogs, cats. very interesting as some I havent seen before like the racoon dogs, Visayan Cat and Visayan deer...Downside is that they did not have maps, so not sure if we covered everything. Entrance was 600php (but could be purchased in advance for discount - Metrodeal site and at ArkAvilon). Snack Food was available- I thought prices were reasonable P50 for a hotdog P35 for bottled water. Animal food cost P40 (3pcs banana or cucumber). Clean restrooms- no soap and toilet paper. Free parking. Tour guides available. Expect lots of walking so wear comfortable ones.

Average trip to this zoo. Worth to go to the first time but won't have any reasons to come back for a second time.

Enjoyed our time at the Zoo. It's packed with wildlife! The kids loved the petting and feeding attractions. I found the giraffe feeding to be nice. I hope they continue to improve the place.A map of the place at strategic locations would be good, so you have an option not to avail of the tour guide. More food options would be nice, too.Getting there would be the biggest challenge, as the main options are congested thoroughfares and some rough roads.

this another place to hold family bonding. cheap yet so much fun. kids will surely love going around here and all those animals

The facilities are clean and well-maintained; I see street sweepers and caretakers all around, even at the C.R. area. The enclosures are clean and well-maintained and the animals looks like they are properly taken care of.I didn't expect that the place is actually nice and clean, but it really is, and it's perfect for a family trip. Albeit it's far away from Manila, but I think that's already their advantage 'cos the air is clean and you could feel the nature's perks right there.I've been to Singapore zoo before, And even though Avilon Zoo isn't comparable to that... YET, it's [Avilon Zoo] already good in it's own right.One thing I could suggest to them though is to put a conspicuous "You Are Here" maps around the zoo, 'cos at times the roads can be confusing, and I suspect that I didn't see all the animals 'cos I have no idea on where am I walking to.The staffs are also nice and accomodating, and one staff that I've talked to wouldn't mind sharing her amazing trivia about the Arapaimas (A freshwater fish) swimming all around the zoo's lakes.The food prices there are reasonable too.Overall, 4.5 stars.

A good place, especially for children. The zoo is huge and there's a lot of plants and animals, of course. There's an entrance fee of 500 pesos person and if you want to hire a tour guide, you have to pay 400 pesos.

My children and there cousins sent too this zoo , We found it a little overpriced and had to buy food and snacks inside no picnics allowed , the animales were kept in Good clean surroundings and the children enjoyed the variety , worth a visit Just for the variety , the trip including breaks Took about 4 hours , would go again

The 7 hectare zoo took approximately 2 hours to tour. The entrance fee was 500 pesos per person and we opted to hire a tour guide for 400 pesos. It was raining on and off when we went so some of the animals were hiding in the shade. Our guide, Ate Chris, who was a high school teacher working part-time at the zoo, taught us a lot about the animals in Avilon. There were a lot of construction going on at that time and some of the roads were a bit slippery when it rains. The zoo has a good mix of animals; we were lucky enough to see the new African giraffes exhibit and Lolong's crocodile cousin. However, some of the cages and exhibits were a tad too small for the animals to frolic.I suggest bringing an umbrella and buying bottled drinks at the entrance to bring during the tour. You're not allowed to eat during the tour though although there is a 15-minute break in one of the food stations inside the zoo where you can have a snack and go to the loo. We weren't able to do a lot of activities because of the rain. We wanted to take a souvenir photo with the Burmese python but unfortunately only the orangutan and a couple of birds were available at the time. I suggest purchasing some fresh feeds from the feeding station near the lobby to feed the Arapaimas. The Arapaima is one of the largest freshwater fishes in the world and we're told that National Geographic even had a special segment dedicated to these creatures, which are called 'River Monsters' in South America. It's exciting to feed these huge meters-long arapaima; they make this surprising popping sound when they catch the feeds with their mouths. Just a note though, it would be better to schedule your trip during the non-rainy season or to ask around an alternate way to get to Avilon Zoo. Because we were unaware of the route, we were forced to cross the Marikina River on top of an elevated strip which was overflowing with water. It's better to find the alternate route because the roads leading to the zoo are somewhat of a rough road and muddy during rainy season.

the place is huge it took us approx 4hrs to finish the tour, its location is not far from the city... close encounter w/ the animals my kids enjoyed it a lot its not crowded... tip:bring a lot of liquids umbrella and extra shirts for kids, come early for the zoo closes at 5pm

We went to Avilon during the holy week and was happy that it was open on Good Friday as it was a free time for the whole family. Getting there was already satisfying because we have really been planning to go there. We were just so excited as soon as we stepped inside because we didn't know what to expect so we were simply looking forward to what might be waiting for us. True enough, there was so much to see. There were so many varieties of animals and we were so happy to see some favorites like the giraffes, leopard, African lion, meerkats, and a lot more.It really was a good experience for the whole family especially for my son who loves animals. The place was big and spacious so there was a lot of room for him to run around. He was even able to play with the pigeons and the ducks that were just out in the open, and it was just so cute to see him chasing the pigeons. The animals that they have amazed me because they have a wide selection and some animals that we read in the books were there like the wallaby, the prairie dog, raccoon and badger, among many others.The zoo has a food area where you can have your meal and a souvenir shop that sells cute items that are priced reasonably.We will definitely be back.