Is Hong Kong zoo stuck ‘in the dark ages’ or inspiring the young to care for animals?

The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens, founded 150 years ago, faces questions about the welfare of the animals in its cramped cages

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A siamang, or black-furred gibbon, at the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Critics question its continued confinement of large animals in small cages that lack stimulation. Photo: SCMP/Xiaomei Chen

Published: 8:30am, 9 Jan 2022Updated: 8:39am, 9 Jan 2022

Completed in 1871, the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens offer a precious green space in one of the densest urbanities on Earth, drawing up to 9,000 visitors per day on weekends, even in the absence of international tourists due to Covid-19 travel restrictions.

But the gardens’ 150th anniversary last November was marked by critics who say visitors should be experiencing native wild birds and butterflies in their natural habitats, and certainly not gawping at orangutans and squirrel monkeys in cages.

“I don’t go there and wouldn’t take my child there either,” says barrister and animal-welfare legislation expert Amanda Whitfort. “It’s an inappropriate place to keep primates, in my view.”

Hers is just one voice in a growing chorus, especially among animal rights groups such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta), who say the anniversary should have meant closing the zoo, and relocating the animals to reputable wildlife sanctuaries.

A Bornean orangutan at Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

About half of the 5.6-hectare gardens site, managed by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, accommodates some 170 birds, 80 mammals and 20 reptiles, housed in 40 enclosures. And as 2022 begins, looking a lot like 2021, feeling trapped is something that resonates.

With more than 150,000 Hong Kong residents having undergone weeks of compulsory quarantine over recent months, this heightened sensitivity seems all the more de rigueur.