In 2016, ZooDoo’s founders brought 12 wallabies from Australia to Da Lat on a four-day road journey — no direct flights, no ready-made enclosures in Vietnam, only a decision: build a place where Vietnamese visitors could touch animals, not just watch through glass. That was the start of the country’s first Australian-standard petting zoo.
From those 12 wallabies, ZooDoo in Lac Duong’s pine forest is now home to 40+ species — capybara, alpaca, meerkat, lemur, macaw and more — across 16 hectares. Each zone mirrors natural habitat: no iron cages, no shows, only safe distance to feed, photograph and hear keepers tell each animal’s story.
Today, every 90–105 minute tour is a guided walk through the pines. Children hold carrot bowls for wallabies; parents sit beside a 65 kg capybara; families laugh when meerkat “Radar” stands up to see who brought food first. That is ZooDoo — not “a zoo in Da Lat”, but a specific memory you take home.
On a 90–105 minute forest walk with your zookeeper, you can meet, feed and photograph species such as wallabies, capybaras and meerkats up close — and take home warm, genuine memories.
Within 10 years, ZooDoo becomes Southeast Asia’s reference model for ecological visits — where every group leaves remembering at least one animal they fed by name, and why that species matters beyond our gates.
Care for each animal to Australian standards; train keepers properly; design tours so children touch, smell and listen — not only look. Every ticket helps fund enclosures, food and conservation education for the next generation of visitors.
The meerkat I look after is nicknamed “Radar” — every morning he stands tall, nose up, checking which keeper brought the carrot bowl first. A guest once joked: “He remembers your face better than he remembers my wife.” I know each animal’s name, who’s shy, who pushes to the front — that’s the part of the job I love most.
Phương Thảo
Zookeeper
Once an entire group of kids went completely quiet when a 65 kg capybara walked over and ate greens from the smallest child’s hand. The parents said it was the first time their kid didn’t need a phone for 90 minutes. That moment — not a line about “wildlife conservation” — is why I’m a zookeeper.
Quang Phát
Zookeeper
