Pata Zoo

Pata Zoo (Thai: สวนสัตว์พาต้า) is a private zoo on the 6th and 7th floors of Pata Pinklao Department Store, Bang Yi Khan Subdistrict, Bang Phlat District, Bangkok between Borommaratchachonnani and Arun Amarin Intersections close to Phra Pinklao Bridge. Pata Zoo has operated since 1983, along with the department store.^[1] For years it has been the focus of Thai animal rights activists who accuse the zoo of inhumane treatment of animals.^[2]

Pata Zoo
Hornbills, Pata Zoo
13°46′17″N 100°29′02″E
Date opened	1983
Location	Bang Phlat, Bangkok, Thailand

Layout

The zoo is divided into two parts, upper and lower floor:^[1]

Bua Noi

• Sixth floor – Nocturnal animals, fish, reptiles. Of interest are the many albino Burmese pythons which the zoo is able to breed successfully. Large stuffed giant freshwater stingray is also displayed; it is the largest species of freshwater stingray in the world and an endangered species. On weekends there are magic shows and information and education sessions about exotic pets.
• Seventh floor – Birds, orangutans, macaques, gibbons, binturongs, guinea pigs, rabbits, pygmy goats, sheep, Asiatic black bears, lemurs, and an artificial waterfall and botanical garden. One notable animal featured here is a female western lowland gorilla over 30 years old named Bua Noi (บัวน้อย, 'little lotus'), the only gorilla left in Thailand.^[3] Most critics of the Pata Zoo have focused on the living conditions of Bua Noi.^[2] She has been held captive in the zoo since 1992.^[4] The zoo veterinarian and zoo director insist that she is in good mental and physical health.^[5][6]

Public outrage

Animal rights activists and campaigners submitted a petition of 35,000 signatures in September 2014 to Thailand's Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation (DNP) calling for the zoo's closure and the immediate removal of Bua Noi from the zoo.^[7] The DNP responded by declaring it could not withdraw the licence of Pata Zoo as the zoo had not done anything against the law.^[8] The DNP director-general argued that the Wildlife Conservation and Protection Act^[9] did not forbid animals from being caged in high-rise buildings and, therefore, Pata Zoo did not violate the law by maintaining a zoo on top of a building.^[8] The zoo immediately declared its innocence of any wrongdoing.^[10]

In March 2015, it was reported that Thai authorities charged that Pata Zoo had broken several laws and ordered the removal of all large animals, including Bua Noi, from the zoo.^[4] The zoo refused to free the gorilla and give her to another zoo.^[11] As of February 2020^[update], Bua Noi was still in captivity at the zoo.^[12][13]

Following a fire at the zoo later that year, actress Gillian Anderson and animal rights group PETA wrote to the owner and asked that he, "reflect honestly on what life is like for animals there and to come to the decision to close it."^[14] At the end of 2020, singer and actress Cher wrote a letter to Thailand’s environment minister, asking for him to “find it in his heart” to help her with her mission to release the gorilla.^[15]