Located in Zhuangwei Township, and in close proximity to Zhuangwei Bridge and famous Zhuangwei Sand Dunes Ecological Park, YILAN ANIMAL KINGDOM may be reached by taking the Zhuangwei exit along National Freeway 5 and connecting to Hongye Road. Even from a distance, YILAN ANIMAL KINGDOM is easily recognizable by its cluster of white greenhouses on the side of the field.
Introduction
Founded by former national table tennis player Lin Kuo-jung and his wife during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Kingdom is still in trial run. Sitting on over 3,000 square meters of land, it is divided into outdoor area and indoor greenhouse area. As the existing outdoor area is built to simulate the natural habitat of animals, no cages are in sight, making visitors feel like they have in fact walked into the animals’ home. The indoor area, currently, has over 20 species of parrot, and visitors’ favorite – the meerkats.
Unlike other zoos where you can only look at animals from afar, or in ordinary farms where only a few animals are seen, you can see and even touch the animals at YILAN ANIMAL KINGDOM, which features over 20 species of parrot, meerkats, alpacas, llamas, kangaroos, capybaras, goats, tortoises, pelicans, and even five types of eagles that can be legally reared in Taiwan. If you look carefully, you will notice there are no metal cages locking up the animals. In fact, the animals in different sectors look like they are in their respective native environments and we are like visitors visiting their home. Besides dozens of colorful parrots, elkhorn ferns adorn the ceiling overhead. According to the lady owner Wang Shu-ching, who is also a guide, each fern had been carefully cultivated by both her husband and herself during the pandemic. As Yilan has the right climate and humidity for the fern’s growth, more plants are planned for the Kingdom.
The most anticipated program in the Kingdom is the scheduled talk on the meerkat ecosystem. Interaction with visitors provides deeper understanding of the meerkat. Visitors can also queue up to take photos with this highly popular animal.
In another part of the outdoor area, animal keepers train eagles and visitors can watch a pelican feeding show.
Features of Agricultural Tourism
Poultry
During the pandemic, Lin and his family retreated from Taipei to their hometown in Zhuangwei. Seeing how both adults and kids had fun in the spring onion field which belongs to Lin’s father and grandfather, Lin started having thoughts of moving back to his hometown permanently. Lin and his wife have always enjoyed keeping parrots as pets. When traveling overseas, they would always visit zoos, and have thought that zoos in Japan, Germany and Australia are very visitor-friendly. According to Lin’s wife Wang, they spent much time mounting elkhorn ferns during the pandemic and rural living enheartened the couple to leave the fast pace of the crowded city behind. Finally, they decided to turn their spring onion field into a place that simulate animals’ natural habitat. Their dream is to allow visitors to go into the natural habitat of animals and plants instead of looking at caged animals. Currently, YILAN ANIMAL KINGDOM’s outdoor areas house eagles, kangaroos, insects, llamas, alpacas and pelicans. In the future, the indoor area will have tropical rainforest, orangutans and groundhogs. Wang hopes visitors to YILAN ANIMAL KINGDOM will not just be taking photos and feeding the animals but learn more about these animals’ ecosystem through the talks and interaction. In time, the couple’s ideal “animal and plant kingdom” will be completed as each sector gradually takes shape.
Information
TEL
+886-958 507 905
Address
No. 62-14, Hongye Rd., Zhuangwei Township, Yilan County 263032 , Taiwan (R.O.C.)
