Many people find zoo’s depressing. That’s not to say they don’t serve a purpose. Often it serves to protect an endangered species. As other creatures evolve and become stronger, sometimes species are taken out. Sometimes, it’s our own fault. But, that’s not to say we shouldn’t try and do something about it. That’s what the Macau Giant Panda Pavilion tries to accomplish.
A Small History Lesson About Pandas
As it turns out, Pandas would probably be extinct if it wasn’t for us humans. Even though, it was we, humans, who caused the devastating decline of this species. It turns out that Pandas literally have to eat about 17 hours a day in order to get proper nutrition from their food source, which is mostly bamboo.
The intestinal track of a panda is too short to actually digest and absorb much at all. I find it very strange that evolution would allow an animal that can’t receive its proper nutrition, even when eating all day, to flourish, much less survive this long.
It also turns out that they don’t reproduce very much, in captivity or in the wild. They’re quite dumb as well. Often, pandas in the wild fall out of trees and have even died in many cases.
As I later learned, the panda is not very high on the evolutionary chain. By all means, call it a dinosaur. It might as well be. In any case, China is trying its best to keep these cute creatures alive as long as possible. That’s what I wanted to see in this Giant Panda Pavilion in Macau.
Getting to Macau’s Panda Pavilion
The Macau Giant Panda Pavilion is located on the most southern island of Macau past the casino strip. This means getting there and back is pretty difficult if you’re staying somewhere else other than the casino strip. I stayed in the Sofitel at Ponte 16 at the complete opposite end of the Macau Panda Pavilion.
I took a long taxi ride to the Panda Pavilion. It’s also not that expensive. Although, I don’t remember how much it was. It was all in Hong Kong dollars, which they accept, even though their official currency is the Macanese Pataca.
The hard thing about taking a taxi here, is that taxis don’t come around often. This means if you’re trying to get back in a taxi, good luck. They might not come at all. I asked the ticket office if they can call me a taxi and they said they couldn’t. They suggested I wait curbside for one. I was lucky another family arrived in a taxi right as I walked outside.
As a last resort, I was going to walk to the closest casino in hopes of finding one. The closest casino is about a 15-minute walk on the casino strip.
The Macau Giant Panda Pavilion and What to Expect
Although the Giant Panda Pavilion is the biggest draw of this place, they do have other animals. It’s basically a small zoo of sorts.
They have the elusive Red Panda. It looks more like a raccoon than a panda though. With a long tail and red stripes, the red panda is very cute but also very shy.
They have monkeys of all kinds. One monkey was so strange; I now understand why people think Skunkapes and Sasquatch’s exist. I mean this thing had red hair all over its body except its face. The face looked almost human, pale. The nose was sunken in. Its teeth were all sharp. It looked like what I would expect a possessed human would look like. It also growled menacing at us. I don’t know what it was but I don’t want to see one alone in the woods… Ever!
There’s also a section with smaller monkeys. They’re so cute. They interact with you. They stick their hands out at you. Maybe they’re really flipping us off, who knows?
Apart from animals there’s a lot of photo opportunities. You have panda cutouts, panda statues, and giant panda billboards. It’s cute. The kids will love it.
The Pandas
The Giant Panda Pavilion is more underwhelming than I imagined. It’s a pretty big place. Their habitat is air conditioned and kept cool as their natural climate would be. They’re well fed and looked after.
There is tons of information to see and read. You’ll learn a lot. However, you should know that there are only three pandas! Yes! Three! I expected a giant herd to come at me. I wanted pandas left and right. In fact, I wanted pandas all over the place. ☹️
These shy creatures were busy eating as far away from people as possible. They chewed on their bamboo non-stop.
I want more pandas. I would gladly volunteer to scoop up their poop. For free! I would love to be close to these beautiful bears.
Recently, two little cubs were born helping the population of this cute bear species increase just a little bit.
Currently it’s $10 MOP (Macanese Patacas) to enter per person. That’s about $1.25 USD.
Just things you’ll see in the ticket office. 
Their ticket office is also the gift shop.
Let Me Break It Down For You:
Macau Giant Panda Pavilion is $10 MOP (Macanese Patacas), which is about $1.25 USD to enter per person.
They have more than just pandas.
It’s great for kids (I don’t have any.)
Getting there and back is hard unless you’re staying in the casino zone.
Taxies are cheap. You can also take a bus to the pavilion.
Do I recommend it? I was a little underwhelmed but I think this is probably great for kids. As an adult, it was just ok.
Check out their website for more info: http://www.macaupanda.org.mo/
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