After spending a few days in the Amazon, it was great to see up close and personal some the animals we saw in the wild and some that we missed. The highlight of the zoo has to be the wild cats, including the jaguars, panthers and several other smaller varieties. There is also a great display of raptors and exotic parrots, and many different monkeys. The manatee exhibit was closed when we were there unfortunately. Use bug spray before you get there as we were eaten alive walking around for about an hour or so.
While the limited number of animals are interesting, they are in small, rather dirty, cages. It is like a zoo of fifty years ago. I felt sooo sorry for the animals, particularly for the jaguar curled up in the far corner of a cage much too small for it.
It's a place built in the 70 and it shows.At the gate it looks good new buildings whit fish tanks.Then you get to the old part I am not Steve Ervin but one of the adults turtle look like it was in the later stages of dying a small cat was also starved and pacing in his cage clearly unwell.I don't no the story of the animals if they are sawed from captivity.The monkeys in the senter island seams happy.It's easy to condemn whit may Western sensitivitys we need to remember that Manny humans got it worse in manaus.If they are planning to refurbished it as it cud seam it's worth to go there just to give them more Chas so they can fix it faster.If they don't intend to increase animal welfare DON'T go they will be better of free from there worthy existence.Som animals seems OK tho just badly built pens.
This is a small military zoo that captures sick or injured animals, treats them and returns them to the wild. So the collection varies with time, but is very interesting. When we went last November, the admissions officer said they did not take US dollars, but as we turned to walk away, he consulted another guard and accepted $2.50 USD for admission. Ships offer excursions to this zoo for about $150USD, but one can get there with a $15 taxi ride. It's worth the independent trip.
Jaguars, macaus, caimans, capivaras, anacondas, boas, birds, It's a short ride from hotel region (20 min).Takes 1 hour to visit
The zoo in Manaus was a little depressing. From the army personnel who run the place to the unkept small cages. I realize maybe there is not the funds to produce a spectacular zoo in this location of the country but for someone travelling to the amazon and hoping to see some wildlife on display it almost hurts to see some of the big game in their enclosures. We did talk to a very friendly person working there who seemed pationate about the animals!
I was disappointed with the Manas zoo. It seems to be neglected in every single way. It looks abandoned with no care at all. They have the main animals of the Amazon that is not the problem. The problem is the condition that they live in. It looks like they built it several years ago and di not do anything to preserve it.It is unfortunate that with all the rich fauna the Amazon has to have such a run down facility.
This is a good place for your children to see the exotic animals in the jungle around Manaus. It's possible to move around with stroller, but not everywhere.
I was looking forward to my visit to this zoo so that I could view animals from the Amazon but like the previous reviewer I came away feeling very sorry for the poor creatures who were resident there.The whole place exuded an air of neglect. The animal enclosures except for the Monkey Island appeared to be poorly maintained and not suitable for the animals they housed. It was sad to see the big cats wandering back and forth in their smallish concrete enclosures.