We were told that the Seoul Zoo was a good place to visit, so we decided to give it a visit one day – and it turned out to be true. The park is expansive and is home to many different animals from all over the world. We don’t frequently visit zoos, but this is one that is worth a visit.

Seoul Zoo South Korea

Getting Into The Seoul Zoo

We knew that cold weather was on its way in the very near future. There had already been a few cold snaps, and we would even get snow in just a few days – so we knew we made the right choice. Thus we decided that we should go see the animals before some of them decided they didn’t want to be outside anymore.

We got a slightly late start to our day. Taking care of the dogs in the morning could interfere with our plans very easily. Some days they wanted to behave and were easy to manage, and other days they were full of mischief. By the time we managed to get to Songtan station and ride to Seoul Grand Park, it was a little before 1:00 pm.

From the station, it was about a mile walk to the main gate of the zoo. We were hungry and started to look for something to eat, luckily there was a little shop just before exiting the metro that sold the lemon-filled pastries we had had once before. This time they were shaped like birds instead of fish. They were good and sufficed for the walk.

As we walked down the causeway to the zoo, we could see a chairlift, the sky-lift, that could bring you into the park (looked neat, but we walked). The causeway and path were lined with golden Ginko tree leaves. An end of fall haze blanketed the region. We crossed over a large lake and could see the zoo was situated in the valley of some mountains, with an amusement park in the valley just off to the left.

We arrived at the zoo gate and bought our tickets. The tickets were only 6000 won for the zoo for both of us, which comes out to just roughly $5.50. So for the economically minded, it’s really a great value.

Start With The Local Nature

We were actually a little confused when we first entered the park. The animals didn’t seem to be anywhere. We knew that they obviously had to be at the zoo, but no exhibits were before us. We would later discover that this was due to just the large expanse of the park. Our first stop though, would be a pretty Koi pond.

Some areas of the zoo were very pretty in displaying the autumn foliage. Coming when we did, we managed to catch the park just as the leaves were changing color and dropping the ground. There was a very peaceful atmosphere to the whole park, nestled in a mountain valley.

Ooo, Monkeys!

Despite the little bit of trouble finding the animals at first but we quickly stumbled upon the Primate Exhibit. It had a gorilla, who was quite casually munching on some celery, a couple of chimps, and a pair of orangutans.

They weren’t particularly active, though we figured this was probably because of it being a little chilly. You can then proceed inside a building, where you can see a few juveniles of the apes, as well as many troops of monkeys. These were really quite interesting and fun to watch, as they kept jumping around and eating. There is also an area where, if you are there at the right time of day, you can actually be around lemurs.

When you come out of the building, you are then able to see a troop of baboons who appear to be pretty active. They are not as cute as Disney would have you believe, though.

After the Primate exhibit, we found our way a bit better about the park. The zoo itself consists of a couple circular loops with walkways/exhibits leading between these and outside of them. The animal exhibits sit along the sides of the road. They have a large assortment of animals too. The further you walk, the more you realize just how large the zoo itself really is.

So Many Animals

Because of the size, and the fact that we did not grab maps, we did not make our way through the park very efficiently. (There are many signs though pointing where various animals are located). We zig-zagged back and forth from animal to animal: elephants, hippos, many different types of antelope, deer, and gazelle, and many many other animals.

Listen For The Roar

We were looking for the lions but were having a bit of difficulty finding them, until we heard them roar and were able to head off in the direction. We found what appeared to be around ten male lions in a large enclosure, all quite happily tending to themselves.

They were the most active – and most number of lions – I’ve ever seen at a zoo before. We must note that we are not sure it is the best idea to keep so many male lions together. We did enjoy seeing them, though.

Seoul Zoo Arboretum

From there we proceeded to a large arboretum, housing many different plants from all the world. We would end up visiting many arboretums and botanical gardens in the following year, and this one still stands out as one of the best.

It was a nice break indoors for a quick warm-up. There was also a section containing framed plants and flowers.

Still More To See

We continued on, visiting the many gray wolves they had. We could also see the jaguars and other large cats. They were in a smaller cage, but we could see their huge exhibit being constructed. We came across the Tiger exhibit, which they had quite lavishly built. As Koreans find the tiger a very important, if not the most important animal, they housed the Tigers in enclosures quite fitting for a sacred animal.

A Few No-Shows

The bear exhibit only had a few sun bears, where the others were we don’t know – it’s possible they were put away for hibernation. A very large bear exhibit was under construction. It will probably be very exciting once it is finished.

As the sun started to set, we made our way back towards the entrance. We saw a few aviaries, but we were not able to go in as it was getting too late and they had closed to the public. Though we missed them, there are also dolphin and sea lion shows regularly.

Conclusions

All in all, the Seoul Zoo was wonderful. We really recommend it, especially for anyone who may have children. You can certainly make a full day out of it, though we would recommend that you start earlier than us.

If you stay until closing, you may even meet some of the friendly cats that roam the park. We came across a few that came up to say hello and let us pet them before we left.