Petencito Zoo — Attraction in Flores

We spent several hours there. The place has a lot of potential, but is currently rather dilapidated and requires serious funds to be revived. The entry fee is Q75 per person for foreigners. The staff are friendly and helpful.

By current (1st world) zoo standards, the cages are minute and although the animals look healthy, they have zero existence.

I believe (after the fact) that ARCAS is the better choice for viewing the animals.

From a funding and educational point of view, the community would probably be better served by having ARCAS and the Zoologico Petencito Flores Peten join forces to provide a worthwhile education and awareness solution with some serious backing by either the government or possibly a foreign zoo (with a major advertising campaign).

Such...

A nice way to spend an hour or so in Flores. Easily accessible on one of the boats, ARCAS is an animal refuge centre. As rehabilitation is their main goal, you won't see the majority of the animals they work with, but they have a few that sadly can't be rehabilitated and those are the ones you see as you walk around. There is a small museum before you start the trail that explains how they work and gives some information on the natural history and animals of Guatemala too. Each animal has its own story and is well looked after. Very informative place, lovely to see the animals, and great to support their excellent work. It's not very expensive, there's a small shop on site, and it takes a little less than an hour to explore (the boat usually...

Worst zoo i have ever been to. The animal enclosures were very poorly maintained without any greenery. Overall, the area is very dilapidated and unmaintained. However, the most terrifying experience I have is from visiting the tiger enclosure, where an emaciated and obviously malnourished tiger is crawling down a steep hill over the very difficult terrain in which his entire enclosure is built. The tiger was so weak that he dragged his hind legs behind him and was unable to stand up properly. At least in this case, I think this zoo is committing...