Kinder Zoo: Adventure Jungle inside Manila Zoo

I just celebrated my 29th birthday last weekend. Unlike the previous years, this time I didn't plan anything for my birthday because I don't feel like splurging especially now that I'm a stay-at-home mom. A week before my birthday, I received a blogger invite to attend a PressCon at the Kinder Zoo. To my excitement, I confirmed my attendance right away. Knowing me, I love going on a field trip. I love to explore. I love adventures.

About the Press Conference

Last Aug. 23, Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle opened its doors to the media to introduce their two famous residents, the Sulcata Tortoise and the Hyacinth Macaw.
 

Event poster.

The event started out with light snacks and brief welcoming by DZME Radyo Uno's broadcasters Mr. Andrew San Fernando, Ms. Ada Vina Cuaresma and Mr. Pocholo "The VoiceMaster" Gonzales who took turns in entertaining the audience. 

The buffet.

Mr. Pocholo caught the attention of everyone when he sampled his voice acting prowess by re-enacting the commercial of Bibbo Cheesedog, Batibot characters, singing "Ako ang Kapitbahay" and many more. I later learned that he's also the recently appointed brand ambassador of Kinder Zoo.

From left to right: Mr. Pocholo Gonzales, Mr. Andrew San Fernando and Ms. Ada Cuaresma.

Then followed by Ms. Grace Bondad Nicolas, Kinder Zoo's Marketing Director and Ms. Juana "Neneng" Lubrico, Operations Manager who took the floor to discuss the main highlight of the event.

Ms. Grace Nicolas and Ms. Juana Lubrico of the Kinder Zoo.

About Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle

To give you a short background about Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle, it is basically a private-owned half-hectare interactive zoological facility inside the government-owned Manila Zoo. It was put up since year 2000 by Mr. Joel Marcelo Gozon Jimenez, CEO of GMA Network, out of his passion for animals. Most of the animals came from his own collection particularly the parrots and tortoises. Unlike typical zoos, he specifically designed Kinder Zoo to be an interactive one where visitors could have a close encounter and deeper appreciation towards exotic animals. The unique feature of Kinder Zoo is that you can pet, feed and take pictures side by side those tamed animals. On top of that, they also have outdoor activities such as zip line, wall-climbing, horseback riding, swimming among others.

Picture with Mr. T

About Sulcata Tortoise

Let me introduce to you "Mr. T", the 50-year old and oldest Sulcata Tortoise in our country. The oldest 182-year old tortoise can be found in South Atlantic. To give you a little fun fact, tortoises are land-dwellers while turtles mostly live in water. Of all the tortoises, sulcata tortoise also known as African spurred tortoise is known to be the third largest species of tortoise in the world next to Galapagos tortoise and Aldabra giant tortoise. They are native to the African continent particularly in Sahara Desert. They can live over a hundred years, can grow over 1 meter in length, and can weigh over 100 pounds. Being herbivores, their diet mostly consist of green leafy vegetables, grasses, and other herbaceous plants. 

Here in Kinder Zoo, you can try feeding a sulcata and watch how he easily breaks a carrot in two. Just be careful with their sharp beak, although they won't bite on purpose.

The 50-year old Mr. T as compared to the 7-month old baby tortoise.

About Hyacinth Macaw (read as ma-ko)

Kinder Zoo is also proud to conserve seven (7) Hyacinth Macaw or Hyacinthine Macaw. It is known to be the largest Macaws or largest flying parrot in the world, a parrot native to Brazil, South America. Hyacinth Macaw has blue plumage, black bill, yellow eye-ring and yellow bare skin on its lower mandible which makes it easily recognizable. It can grow up to 40 inches long and has a powerful beak that can crush coconuts. Their diet is mostly nuts, fruits and various kinds of seeds. They prefer to live in palm swamps, woodlands and other semi-open wooded habitats. These parrots are considered as endangered numbering approximately 4,000 in the wild mostly due to habitat loss and heavy exploitation for pet trade as each macaw is worth almost P800,000. 

For the past five years, these seven macaws (4 males, 3 females) have been in Kinder Zoo's aviary to give them time to grow and mature and eventually identify who the potential couples are. According to Ms. Lubrico, sometime this year they will no longer display the macaws that they have paired up, 4 of them, as they will be transferred to their new breeding facility in Tagaytay. It has been their advocacy to breed and conserve these endangered animals.

The friendly and playful brilliant-blue Hyacinth Macaw.

Other Features of Kinder Zoo

Aside from the two animals highlighted at the event, we were also able to get a close encounter and take photos with other animals inside the Kinder Zoo.

Picture with the grass owl.

Picture with Gabbie, the 1-year old baby gibbon.

Baby riding on a tortoise's back.

Other animals.

Picture with the Rufous Hornbill.

Picture with the Toco Toucan.

 

Picture with the Scarlet Macaw, Blue-and-Yellow Macaw and the two red birds.

Picture with the Caiman Crocodile.

Picture with the Albino Burmese Python.

I'm so happy to have spent my birthday inside Kinder Zoo. I was even able to take photos with these animals and got a complimentary photo for free! 

Kinder Zoo Jungle Adventure entrance.

Activities you can do inside Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle.

The entrance fee is P100 where you can take a tour around the zoo, pet, feed and take pictures. Or you can pay P250 and enjoy all the other outdoor activities as well. Visitors need to purchase entrance tickets to Manila Zoo first before being able to purchase tickets to Kinder Zoo. Manila Zoo's entrance fee is P50 for Manilans and P100 for Non-Manilans.

Of course the event won't be complete without a photo op with some of the 'celebrities' of Kinder Zoo.

Picture with Ms. Grace Nicolas, Marketing Director of Kinder Zoo.

Picture with the Voice Master, Mr. Pocholo Gonzales.

Having a child gave me an excuse to be a child-at-heart and allowed me to revisit the places that I wasn't able to experience before, just like going on a zoo. We had actually visited two zoos early this year and one of them was Manila Zoo. We didn't enter Kinder Zoo since it has a separate entrance fee and we brought our two helpers with us that time. That's why I'm so blessed to receive an exclusive invite here at the Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle. Thanks Ms. Grace!


Kinder Zoo Adventure Jungle

Located inside the compound of Manila Zoo
M. Adriatico Street, corner Pres. Quirino Ave., Manila
Contact numbers: 522-6179 or 475-5775
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Kinder-Zoo-Adventure-Jungle
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Kinder_Zoo
Instagram: http://instagram.com/kinderzooadventurejungle

Mommy Sally