Taipei Zoo

The first thing you notice is the air. It is warm, damp, and green, with a smell of wet leaves drifting down from the hills. Somewhere behind the trees a bird calls, sharp and unfamiliar. Underfoot, the paved path tilts gently upward. Taipei is only a short ride away, yet here the city noise fades into cicadas, water, and the soft hum of families walking. Welcome to Taipei Zoo, at the southern edge of the capital, in the district of Muzha.

This place sits where the city meets the mountains. Look up and you will see forested slopes rising on almost every side. The zoo spreads across a large, hilly site, so it does not feel like one compact garden. It feels more like a series of valleys, each with its own climate and character. Many visitors arrive at the end of the brown metro line, and the station name tells you exactly where you are.

The zoo is older than this site. Its story begins in the early twentieth century, when Taiwan was under Japanese rule. A small private animal garden opened in northern Taipei, in the Yuanshan area near the Keelung River. The city later took it over, and for decades it was the place where Taipei families came to see animals. By the late twentieth century, however, that old site had become far too small and crowded.

So the zoo moved. In the 1980s, the animals were relocated here to Muzha, where there was space to build larger, more natural enclosures. Locals still talk about the move, because the animals travelled across the city in a long procession. Crowds lined the streets to watch elephants and other large animals pass by. It was a farewell to the old zoo and a welcome to this new home in the hills.

One of those travellers was an elephant named Lin Wang, and his life is the first surprise of this zoo. Lin Wang served with Chinese forces in Burma during the Second World War, carrying supplies through the jungle. After the war he came to Taiwan, and eventually to Taipei. He lived here into extreme old age and became a beloved figure. When he died in 2003, he was one of the oldest elephants on record.

For many people in Taiwan, Lin Wang was more than an animal. He was a living link to a hard and distant chapter of history. Grandparents remember visiting him as children. Their grandchildren saw the same elephant decades later. As you walk through the African and Asian animal areas today, it is worth remembering that the zoo carries memories like these. It is a public place where generations of one city have overlapped.

The animals that draw the longest queues are the giant pandas. In 2008, two pandas arrived as a gift from mainland China. Their names, Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan, join together to form a word meaning reunion. That choice was deliberate, and it carried political weight across the strait. In 2013 the pair had a cub, Yuan Zai, born here in Taipei. Her birth was followed closely across the island, almost like a national event.

The second surprise is a much smaller animal, and many visitors walk straight past it. Taipei Zoo is known among conservationists for its work with the Formosan pangolin. A pangolin is a shy, scaly mammal that eats ants and curls into a tight ball when frightened. Pangolins are among the most trafficked mammals in the world, and they are very difficult to keep and breed. Keepers here have built real expertise in caring for them.

That focus on local wildlife runs through the whole zoo. The Formosan Animal Area is a good place to slow down. Here you can meet species that live on this island, such as the Formosan black bear, with the pale crescent on its chest. You may also see the Formosan rock macaque, a monkey of the island's forests. These animals are symbols of Taiwan's mountains, the same mountains you can see above the treeline.

As you move between sections, the setting changes. The Asian tropical rainforest area feels close and humid, with dense planting and water nearby. The African area opens up into wider spaces and longer views. Indoors, there are houses for koalas, penguins, insects, and reptiles and amphibians. There is also a nocturnal animal house, kept dark so you can watch animals that are normally active at night. Give your eyes a minute to adjust inside.

The site is big, and the slopes are real. Many people underestimate the walk, especially in summer heat or during a sudden afternoon rain. A small shuttle runs through the grounds, and it can save tired legs on the climb to the upper areas. Shade, benches, and drinking spots appear along the way. Take them. The zoo rewards a slow pace much more than a rushed checklist of every enclosure.

Just outside, the hills continue to rise. Near the zoo you will find the base of the Maokong Gondola, a cable car that carries visitors over the treetops toward tea plantations in the hills above. Maokong has long been known for its tea houses, where people sit for hours looking back at the city lights. Many visitors pair the zoo with a ride up, turning one day into a journey from animals to tea.

Before you leave, pause on one of the paths and listen. Under the voices and footsteps, you may hear birds, running water, and wind in the leaves of the hillside. Look at the green slopes framing the enclosures, and at the city waiting just beyond them. Then, as you walk back toward the station, notice how the sounds slowly change again, from cicadas to traffic, from forest to Taipei.