Saigon Zoo & Botanical Gardens Ticket in Ho Chi Minh City

As one of the most historic and oldest constructions in Ho Chi Minh City, the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens is not only a historical monument but also a distinctive cultural symbol of the city. Built simultaneously with the Ho Chi Minh City Post Office, the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, and Ben Thanh Market, the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens is considered a witness of history, having endured the ups and downs of the people and the land. Its enduring vitality and unique cultural values have imparted the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens with a distinctive and unmistakable character. 

The Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens was built on March 23, 1864, and was initially called the Botanical Gardens. The person credited with the construction of the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens is the French Admiral and Governor of Indochina, Pierre-Paul De La Grandière, who envisioned this place to enhance culture and the activities of flora and fauna conservation, as well as to serve as a research facility for scientists in Indochina. Under the Admiral's orders, Louis Adolphe Germain, a French army veterinarian, was tasked with developing 12 hectares of wildland in the northeast of the Thi Nghe canal to create a place for animal care and plant cultivation. In 1865, the construction was completed with numerous types of rare animals and plants imported from neighboring countries like India, Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia, and the area was expanded to 20 hectares. The people of Saigon at that time commonly referred to the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens as the Zoo, a name that has remained popularly associated with it to this day.