Don't feed the children: People discover the world around them at the Sai Gon Zoo and Botanical Garden. — VNS Photo

HCM CITY (VNS) — A photo exhibition on the 150-year history of the Sai Gon Zoo has opened at the Saigon Zoo and Botanical Garden on Tuesday.

The event displays 90 black-and-white and colour photos, including works captured for several decades ago and stored by collectors.

The works depict four topics that review the 25ha zoo's history from beginning and development.

The zoo was home to only 60 species of mammals, reptiles and birds before 1975, but it is now home to more than 1,000 items from 123 species, and several thousand plants.

It has many kinds of rare animals, such as Indo-chinese tigers, white Bengal tigers, Indochinese leopards and African lions.

Its Museum of Vietnamese History displays 25,000 documents and photos of the southern region's history, culture and ethnography.

The zoo was built in 1865 and is ranked as the eighth oldest zoo in the world.

It has received support from local authorities to become one of the country's leading zoos, according to Pham Anh Dung, deputy director of the zoo.

"We have attracted several thousand people and children in the city and other provinces to visit every year. We also organise cultural programmes on holidays and traditional festivals," he said.

According to Dung, the city plans to build another zoo called Sai Gon Safari covering an area of 465 hectares in Cu Chi District.

The exhibition is at 2B Nguyen Binh Khiem Street. It closes in mid-January. — VNS