Plans to build an underground parking lot at the 151-year-old Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden have been approved by the municipal administration.

The parking lot will span one hectare under the zoo’s penguin exhibit, African animal enclosure, restaurant, and children’s playground areas on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and Nguyen Binh Khiem Streets.

Plans for the 3,000 motorbike and 100 car parking area include noise-free construction techniques to avoid disturbing the zoo animals.

The approved plan also includes planting shrubs and bamboo along the zoo’s facade and between animal enclosures in order to minimize noise that could have adverse effects on the living conditions of the animals.

Other changes to the zoo include a renovation of the current administrative office into an animal museum and the addition of a new petting zoo aimed at introducing visitors to human-friendly animals such as pigs, chickens, goats, and water buffalo.

The Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden, located in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, celebrated its 150^th anniversary last year and is among the world’s oldest zoos still in operation.

As Vietnam’s largest zoo, it is home to over a hundred species of mammals, reptiles, birds, ornamental plants, and rare orchids.

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