BREAKING NEWS

To celebrate the Zoo’s 122nd birthday, it will be offering tickets at R22.00 per person on the 22nd of every month until February, 2027.

Mark those days on your calendar and in your diary.

 

 

This should get you in the mood…

 

 

 

If you enter the Zoo at the Jan Smuts entrance, these are the first inhabitants you will discover.

This is a ‘drop-off’ entrance only, with no parking for visitors. There is parking around the corner, should it be required.

The flamingoes have been in this enclosure for as long as I can remember, and are seemingly happy to welcome visitors.

Loud and raucous, they set the tone for a visit to this attraction in the heart of Joburg suburbia.

 

 

 

I do not trust any animal (or bird species) that does not have eyelids. They just look sneaky to me.

 

 

One of the many boulevards that are accessible to visitors, either on foot or in the golf carts.

Given the rubbish in the suburban streets of Johannesburg, I was more than surprised to see how clean the zoo was.

 

 

 

This is the first exhibit that you can walk through if you have entered at the Jan Smuts gate.

Yes, the interior is dark, and yes, the tank glass could use a good cleaning from the inside, but at least the reptiles are able to be seen. Even if it does take a moment or two.

 

 

 

This is a West African Gaboon Viper.

An interesting Fact:

It has the longest fangs of any snake

The Gaboon viper’s fangs can reach up to 5 cm long—that’s longer than a matchstick. These hinged fangs fold back against the roof of the mouth and swing forward when it strikes, delivering venom with remarkable efficiency.

Not a snake to be played with.

 

 

 

Some unnerving facts about the Snouted Cobra.

Although you’d expect a cobra to stick mostly to the ground, the snouted cobra is quite happy climbing trees or even slipping into thatched roofs in search of prey like birds or rodents. Not exactly the kind of house guest you want dropping in unannounced.

When threatened, instead of striking immediately, a snouted cobra may flip onto its back, open its mouth, and play dead. It’s a dramatic performance—part theatre, part survival tactic—hoping a predator loses interest and moves on.

For once, climbing a tree will therefore NOT NECESSARILY save you!

 

 

 

Despite the name, the pygmy hippo isn’t simply a scaled-down version of the common hippopotamus.
It’s a completely different species with its own habits and lifestyle. While their larger cousins dominate rivers in noisy groups, pygmy hippos prefer a far quieter existence.

And unlike the classic river-loving hippo, the pygmy hippopotamus spends much of its time in dense West African forests. They still love water, but mainly for cooling off

Think less “river horse,” and more “shy forest wanderer.”

They may be “pygmy,” but they’re no lap animals as they can weigh between 180–275 kg and reach a height of between 75–100 cm.

So yes—smaller than a common hippo, but they can run faster than a human!

This is a Meerkat…translated it is a ‘more cat’. This family of meerkats has lived in the zoo for many years. Safely sticking to their enclosure and not wandering away like the squirrels, which now seem to cohabitate in enclosures with several of the plains animals.

However, according to the Executive Manager of the zoo, a new one was recently introduced, which quickly found an escape route. Not only that, but he taught the resident animals how to escape as well.

To stop them escaping, new reinforcements had to be added to the top of the wall to prevent them from heading off into the distance.

 

 

 

This was Max, a gorilla who became famous after a fleeing robber jumped the wall of his enclosure and shot him.

In July 1997, a criminal fleeing police jumped into Max’s enclosure. Max, acting instinctively (and protectively toward his mate Lisa), attacked the intruder. During the confrontation, the man shot Max twice—once in the chest and once in the neck.

Despite being seriously wounded, Max survived. He became something of a national hero—often referred to as the gorilla who “caught” a criminal.

As Max was too large to be treated at the Zoo, he was taken to the nearby Milpark Hospital Emergency Department for treatment.

He recovered from the attack, although one of the bullets was never removed.

He continued living at the zoo for several years after the incident.

Max died on 5 May 2004, at the age of 33.

The cause of death was natural causes associated with old age, including heart and kidney failure, and not the shooting incident in 1997.

This sculpture was done by local medical doctor and artist Laurence Chait, and it stands proudly in the grounds of the Zoo.

Visitors can sit in his lap and seem to take pleasure in rubbing his hands or his nose.

 

 

 

A baby Gibbon, just going to prove that the Zoo is doing something right, or the animals would not breed.

Many of the primates that I observed had babies with them.

 

 

 

Eyes on the prize? Or perhaps looking in the general direction from which food would be arriving?

 

 

 

Looks like he had been to the hairdresser’s that morning in preparation for my visit.

A mane in a condition like this would rarely be seen in the wild. Fighting between both males and females would have left this one looking the worse for wear.

But in their enclosure at the zoo he does not having to defend territory and thus muss his hair style…

 

 

 

To find out what is on offer at the zoo, click on the logo above.

 

 

 

 

Travel & Things is the proud winner of these prestigious awards from the digital British lifestyle magazine Luxlife.

The awards are in the categories:

Best Travel & Experiences Blog 2024 – South Africa

Best African Game Reserves & Lodges Travel Review Site 2025.

Best African Resorts and Retreats Award 2025.

And the most recent accolade… Most engaging Travel & Lifestyle Blog 2026.

 

 

 

To see who the guests have been since this YouTube channel launched, click on the logo above.

 

 

Looking for something to read? Click on the logo above to visit the Off the Shelf YouTube channel for interesting and up-to-date interviews and book reviews.

 

 

“Hard work never killed anybody, but why take a chance?”

Edgar Bergen