Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens

Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens is one of the most beautiful and peaceful places to visit in Ho Chi Minh City. I really enjoyed my time here. The area is full of green trees, colorful flowers, and many different kinds of animals. It’s a very nice place for walking, relaxing, and taking good photos. The garden is clean and well organized, and the staff take care of the area properly. The zoo has many interesting animals like elephants, tigers, giraffes, monkeys, and birds. It’s also a good educational place for children and families to learn about nature and wildlife. The botanical garden part is amazing too, with many tropical plants and flowers. You can sit in the shade, enjoy the calm environment, and feel fresh air even inside the busy city. The entrance ticket price is 60,000 VND, which is very reasonable and totally worth the experience. There are also some food stalls and drink shops inside if you want to rest or eat something. I really liked the peaceful atmosphere and friendly staff service. This is one of the oldest zoos in Asia, and it still keeps a natural and historic charm. I highly recommend visiting Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens when you come to Ho Chi Minh City. It’s truly the green heart of the city.

We were overall happy with our visit to Saigon Zoo. The grounds are easy to navigate, with well-labelled walkways and clear signage to the different animal enclosures, which made getting around straightforward and relaxed. Many of the larger animals appeared to have fairly spacious enclosures. The giraffes, elephants, and lions in particular seemed to have room to move, and those areas felt thoughtfully laid out. That said, some of the bird enclosures were harder to see. A few of the spaces for the various bird species felt quite small, with limited room for flying or roaming. It was a little sad to observe, as some of the birds appeared inactive and low in energy, which stood out compared to the rest of the zoo. Overall, the zoo seems to be doing better with the care and wellbeing of many of its animals, but a review and improvement of certain enclosures, especially for the birds, would make a meaningful difference. A good experience overall, with some areas that could still be improved.

Quite a "complete" zoo, containing most of the big species: elephants, giraffes, monkeys like orang-utan and chimpanzee, big cats like tigers, leopard, lion; hippos - no Rhinos anymore?, crocodiles/alligators, zebras, etc. And it is one of the oldest Zoos worldwide! Some huge trees probably saw the first days of the zoo in the 1860s/70s! Important to know: some of the buildings inside close rather early, such as the butterfly house at 4 pm, so best to enter at around 2. Since the area is not that big, plan to invest about 2-3 hours for the whole visit (except you want to have fun in the amusement park in the zoo). I liked the reptile part, many beautiful iguanas, some nice tortoise, but oddly, they are really dispersed in at least three areas... That said, it definitely needs some renovations, especially the housings of the big cats are utterly depressing and the scarce labeling is not very educational.

We had a good morning at the zoo. We got there as they opened and it was very quiet and easy to get around. By the time we left school groups etc had started to arrive and was getting busy. Lots of animals to see and not a bad zoo for the price. Worth a look if you have time while in the city. Easy to get to by grab. Lots of lizards up close. They had a market with crafts and different foods on while we were there which was nice too

Visiting this zoo was a deeply distressing and disappointing experience. The primates; highly intelligent, social and emotionally complex animals, are kept in small, outdated metal cages with no adequate environmental enrichment, no natural vegetation, and no opportunity to express natural behaviors such as climbing, exploring or proper social interaction. The enclosures show clear signs of chronic stress and environmental deprivation: rusted bars, concrete floors, minimal structures and improvised objects that do not meet modern animal welfare standards. This setup reflects outdated practices that prioritize display over wellbeing. Monkeys are not decorative animals. They require complex environments, vertical space, mental stimulation and social structures to remain healthy. Keeping them under these conditions is neither education nor conservation; it is the normalization of animal suffering. In the 21st century, facilities like this should no longer exist. If an institution cannot provide ethical, biologically appropriate and humane conditions, it should not keep animals in captivity. I hope that images like these circulate publicly and help raise awareness, so that pressure leads to real change and a meaningful improvement in the quality of life of these animals. They deserve far better than what they are currently subjected to. I do not recommend this visit to anyone who cares about animal welfare. Human entertainment should never come at the expense of animal dignity.

Went there with my kids. Didn’t plan to go. Just had an extra day in Saigon and decided to go. Have mixed feelings about the place. It’s quite big and they have lots of animals to see, but the condition of the zoo is far from great. Feels like the way zoo’s used to look in western countries 30 years ago. The animals are kept in tiny cages and don’t seem very happy. My kids enjoyed the zoo, but for me it was hard to see it. But it is an option if you have spare time and have kids. Entrance fee is very low.

Over years this place got slightly better in maintaining the enclosures. Some were rebuild completely giving more space for animals. The zoo in general got cleaner but still can get better (hopefully!) Ferris wheel is working fine. Most of staff is helpful. A toy fell into giraffe's enclosure right next to the foot. The zoo worker went inside and returned it to us without any problem.

Date of visit: June 2025 It was 60k VND per adult. I think this zoo was small enough that we could go through all the exhibits within one day. Too bad I was only in here for an hour because I was rushed. It's a good way to see animals! The crocodiles left an impression. They lay so still that they seem fake. The capybaras were most popular. The elephants looked really sad :( They sell some snacks here and some souvenirs for kids.