Dusit Zoo (Thai: สวนสัตว์ดุสิต) or popularly known as Khao Din Wana (เขาดินวนา) and Khao Din (เขาดิน) was a zoo in Bangkok, Thailand. Located at Khao Din Park in Bangkok's Dusit District next to the Parliament House and Dusit Palace, it was the oldest zoo in Thailand.
History
Dusit Zoo was originally built by King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) as his private garden adjacent to the royal palace. After the king's death, the garden was left unattended for years.
In 1938, the constitutional government asked King Rama VIII's regency council to give the park to the Bangkok City Municipality to be opened as a public zoo. The King donated deer and a number of other animals from the palace for public exhibition. The City of Bangkok operated the zoo until 1954. Since then it has been transferred to the state Zoological Park Organization, which also operates Khao Kheow Open Zoo, Chiang Mai Zoo, Songkhla Zoo and Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo.[1] Dusit Zoo, or "Khao Din", spanned a total area of 188,800 square meters,[2] and was regarded as the most popular zoo in Thailand, attracting approximately 2.5 million visitors annually.[3]
In August 2018, the Zoological Park Organization announced that the zoo would close and relocate to a new site in Thanyaburi District, Pathum Thani Province.[4] After the announcement, the zoo extended its opening hours until 30 September 2018.[5]
Number of animals
Dusit Zoo was located in the heart of Bangkok, with over 1600 species of domestic and international animals, including: