Taiping Zoo and Night Safari

Taiping Zoo opened in 1961, which makes it the oldest in the country, and it occupies a site next to the Lake Gardens with the hills of Bukit Larut behind, using the mature trees and water bodies of the old mining ground as part of the layout - which gives it a greener, less concrete feel than newer zoos. The collection is around a hundred and eighty species with an emphasis on Malaysian and Southeast Asian animals: Malayan tigers, sun bears, tapirs, gibbons, hornbills, orangutans and a large elephant enclosure. In 2003 it added a night safari, the first in Malaysia, running a tram and walking route through parts of the zoo after dark with subdued lighting to show nocturnal species, which is the more distinctive of the two visits.

What you actually see

• Malaysia's oldest zoo - open since 1961 on the old mining ground.
• Mature trees and water - the Lake Gardens setting worked into the layout.
• Malaysian species - tigers, tapirs, sun bears, gibbons and hornbills.
• A night safari - the after-dark tram and walking route for nocturnal animals.

When to go

All year; the night safari runs in the evening. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Some enclosures are older and small by modern standards. The night safari's lighting is deliberately dim, so you see less than you expect. Taiping is the wettest town in Malaysia; expect rain.

Nearby

Taiping Lake Gardens are adjacent; Bukit Larut and the Perak Museum are close.