Ban Keun Zoo

The Vientiane Zoo is the only ‘official’ zoo in Laos. There are captive animals on display in other locations I have visited however. Vientiane Zoo is located in beautiful countryside some 65 Km from the city of Vientiane.

The zoo itself has a variety of names amongst which are the Vientiane Zoo, Lao Zoo, Tulakhom Inter Zoo and Ban Keun Zoological Park. They actually make a bit of sense in that the zoo is located in Ban Keun (Ban Kern), Tulakhom district in the Vientiane Province of Lao. Such a variety of names however could lead one to believe that there are several zoos in Laos.

The Zoo was first established in 1994 and largely as a tourist attraction. Originally it was a 60% private and 40% government concern but the government dropped out in 2003.. It struggles financially and without foreign visitors it would be unlikely to remain open. A generous donation by Japan’s Toyota company served to improve the accommodation for the zoos most famous resident, the white elephant ‘Phrayachaiyamongkol’.

This small collection supposedly has a staff of 80 and keeps some 2000 animals. Photographs on the internet from 1998 show that the zoo has progressed during the past ten years or so. (text from http://hubpages.com)

This set of photo taken just last week when i’ve got chance to visit the zoo.