Parque Municipal Summit — Attraction in Ancón

When you first enter the park, you get the feeling that it’s quite lovely and well manicured landscaping. You immediately see picnic benches and playground spaces and plenty of open space. All the making of a lovely park.

Then the horror.

It starts with the monkeys in their small pens. One supposes they are near the front offices for medical reasons. They are moaning and laying on the ground from the heat. Their pens are no higher than 4 meters high, and the wind can’t get to them. One supposes in the wild they would be up in the trees to stay cool.

Next, the Ocelot, Oncillla, and Nasuas. In pens side by side, and no larger than 2 x 2 meters, they are all down on the ground, whimpering, and weak. Their pens reak of urine that has permeated the bare ground that they rest upon. They will look at you in the eyes and seem to ask “how can you do this to me?”

It continues. All through the park. The Capuchins, raccoons. The cougar alone in its pen underneath a rudimentary wood structure. The lone tapir smelling the air, the jaguar. All alone. All miserable.

You get to the harpy eagle and see what they have done to this magnificent bird. At its pen, horrifyingly small and with low ceiling there is a plaque commemorating the construction in August of 1998. I was hoping in my mind that this was all left over from when the canal was first constructed. Perhaps in my mind, maybe if I could say to myself that it was an archaic zoo constructed after world war 2. Nope. The boomer who built this is probably living in a high rise still to this day.

May god have mercy on all our souls.

My plea is that Panama shut this down and just be a botanical park for families to go. Free the animals for pity’s sake. Murderers in solitary confinement get treated better. Shame,...

I have mixed feelings about the park. I think from a general view, it looks like a great park to spend a day by yourself, family or friends. The trees are stunning and provide a good feeling while having a picnic. But when it comes to the animals, here it's my concern, I feel they are in such a small cages. I can understand that the park help animals when they get injured but why not to have a better space for the ones that are healthy! The felines are in such small cages, the birds as well and so the monkeys. The jaguar's cage is also not a proper one for it. I think it is good to consider make a bigger effort for the health of the animals on their charge. They deserve better. On the other side, there is no water station around the park. It should be one working properly. The bathrooms are not a good experience either (I know here visitors play their roles but if a person sees already a yucky bathroom they are going to...

Nice place to spend 1/2 day or few hours to relax and enjoy mother nature and the weather.. There is plenty of space for parking and there is a nice building in the entrance that serve as a visitor center. You will enjoy the walks around the park and read about the different tress and plants around the park, there are label with valuable information. You can pack your lunch and enjoy your lunch at the picnic tables available around the park. Also remember to visit the zoo area and there is also a kid playground area. The animals things to be well keep but I think their cage are a little too small, at the time of visited the bathroom floor were wet due to a water issue with the toilets, in general the park is fine and is a great place to visit but maintenance needs to keep up to date to keep the park fresh and available to the public. There is an entrance fee and the park is...