Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens

1864 view of the gardens, with Government House and Victoria Harbour in the background.

Garden Fountain at night

The park was previously named Bing Tau Fa Yuen (「兵頭花園」).[1] "Bing Tau" literally means "the head of the soldiers" or the "Commander-in-Chief". According to Hong Kong's Leisure and Cultural Services Department, it was nicknamed as such by the city's Chinese community, as it was the former site of the city's Government House.[3] Others said Bing Tau was just the phonetic transliteration of the first two syllables of the word botanical. In the old days, many lovers liked to go there on a date. During the Japanese occupation, it was renamed as Taishō Kōen (Hiragana:たいしょうこうえん, Kanji: 大正公園).

Bronze statue of King George VI

At the southern entrance to the gardens, at Upper Albert Road, is a memorial arch dedicated to the Chinese who died assisting the Allies during the two world wars. The inscription on the lintel reads: "In Memory of the Chinese who died loyal to the Allied cause in the Wars of 1914-1918 and 1939-1945". The granite arch in the shape of a paifang was erected in 1928. Reference to the Second World War was added later.[4]

A bronze statue of King George VI was erected in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of British colonial rule over Hong Kong (1841–1941).[5]

Liquidambar formosana

There are more than 1,000 species of plants in the gardens,[6] mostly indigenous to tropical and sub-tropical regions. It includes some rare species like the dawn redwood and the local Ailanthus. Besides these, some species which can produce flowers throughout the year can also be found there, like the Hong Kong orchid tree.

Different Species are grown in the Thematic gardens in the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens.

Camellia Garden

Hong Kong Camellia

More than 30 species are grown in this garden. Crapnell's camellia (Camellia crapnelliana), Grantham's camellia (Camellia granthamiana) and Hong Kong camellia (Camellia hongkongensis) are native to Hong Kong.

Some introduced rare species such as Yunnan camellia (Camellia reticulata) and golden camellia (Camellia nitidissima and Camellia euphlebia) can also be found in this garden.

Greenhouse

The entrance of greenhouse

Visitors in the greenhouse

Various species of orchids, ferns, bromeliads, vines and carnivorous plants are grown in the greenhouse.

The size of the garden precludes the keeping of very large mammal species such as giraffes. Nevertheless, the collection of primates is varied, including such diverse creatures such as the golden lion tamarin, gibbon, orangutan, ring-tailed lemur and black-and-white ruffed lemur. Apart from the plants, there are over 400 birds, 50 mammals and 20 reptiles.

Mammals and reptiles

Chinese alligator

A taxidermy specimen of Siu Fa, the female jaguar that lived in Hong Kong for nearly 20 years is on display at the Education and Exhibition Centre of HKZBG from March 5 2009.[7]

A pigeon pair of Bornean orangutan twins were born in the HKZBG in July 2011, joining the big family of the gardens. This is the first-ever successful breeding of Bornean orangutan twins in the HKZBG, bringing to five the total number of this primate in the gardens[8]

To enhance public understanding and appreciation of all living creatures, the two female meerkats introduced to the HKZBG are aged 4 and 5 and are housed in the newly decorated "Meerkat's Home".[9]

The reptiles are primarily snakes and turtles such as the African spurred tortoise, Chinese alligator and Burmese python.

Birds

Yellow-casqued hornbill

Malayan peacock pheasant

Over 100 species have successfully reared young including Red-crowned crane, peacock pheasant and Rothschild's Mynah all of which are highly endangered in the wild.

An injury Black-faced Spoonbill was rescued in Nam Sang Wai by staff of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department and transferred to the KFBG Wild Animal Rescue Centre in March 2018. This Black-faced Spoonbill which was unable to fly after the operation. Fortunately it will be able to join other water birds at HKZBG and so will have companions in captivity.[10]

The small brick buildings that house some of the smaller birds were once staff quarters for Chinese workers at the park. These were recently renovated, resulting in the destruction of a row of disused Victorian gas lamp posts, probably the last remaining such row in Hong Kong, and possibly in East Asia.

The Hong Kong zoo has come under "fire for 'outdated' facilities"[11] and inadequate, overcrowded conditions for the animals housed within its confines.

The South China Morning Post reported the Kadoorie Institute, the SPCA, Animals Asia and Orangutanaid "expressed sincere doubts over the welfare of its animals and recommended that the park be returned to its original status as a botanical garden".[12] Later in the year, Jane Goodall expressed her "concern over the treatment of orangutans in Hong Kong's zoo" saying that they "were not in a good situation", and adding that "large animals in small cages with nothing to do are not happy animals".[13]

The main entrance is located at Upper Albert Road. A number of bus routes give access to the facility.[14] Admission is free to all parts of the Zoological and Botanical Gardens.

• Central and Western Heritage Trail
• King George V Memorial Park, Hong Kong
• List of urban public parks and gardens of Hong Kong

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• Official website