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Phnom Tamao

This is a 1200 hectares zoo and wildlife rescue centre located 30 kilometres southeast of Phnom Penh in Tro Pang Sap village, Tro Pang Sap commune, Ba Ti district, Takeo province.

The zoo itself covers 80 hectares, the remainder has been reserved for its future extension and development. The sanctuary is continually undergoing improvements and strives to provide suitable habits for its larger animals. It was set up to preserve and rescue rare and endangered local wildlife. Some rare species housed here, including tigers, leopards, a lion and several species of exotic birds. At least two dozen of the species found here are endangered.

The majority of confiscated or donated animals are unable, due to a variety of  reasons, to be released in the wild and are therefore housed at the Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre (PTWRC).  The hope is that these animals will contribute to the gene pool in future wildlife rehabilitation programs.

Phnom Ta Mao is by far the largest zoo in Cambodia and the influx of visitors testifies to this. It was officially opened by Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen in 2000, although it had been running for some five years previously. PTWRC is currently the only official sanctuary in the country.

One of the biggest enclosures is the sun bear enclosure, now with an infant Malayan Sun bear confiscated in a raid by WildAid's Wilderness Protection Mobile Unit (WPMU) in Stung Treng province in February 2005. The bear, only a month old and weighing less than ten pounds, was taken from a well known wildlife trader, Y Banka. The WPMU took the infant bear to the PTWRC where it joined other rescued bears in the bear enclosure. More information.

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