AVILON: A Shared Dream and Endeavor

The AVILON MONTALBAN ZOOLOGICAL PARK is the largest zoological park in the Philippines to date. Nestled in the picturesque valley of Barrio San Isidro, Rodriguez (formerly Montalban),Rizal, Philippines, the 7.5-hectare land area of the Zoo was once raw rice land.

AVILON had its un seeming beginnings when Mr. Jake Gaw, an avid animal hobbyist who,at the age of four had his first encounter with animals while staying at his grandpa's farm in Sta. Ana,Manila (still quite rural then) mingled among goats, cows, pigs and chickens at the farm. This initial encounter would make such a lasting impression on young Jake that he carried his interest in animals from then on. Thus, from guppies and budgies, Jake over the years extended and expanded his interest and collection to arapaimas and eagles and lions and macaques, pythons,etc.

There are two, so to say, crossroads in the history of AVILON. The FIRST was when Jake had to transfer his pet lion IO to a new home, because his neighbors were concerned about the presence of a full-grown male lion living amongst them inside a subdivision. This search for a new home to house IO led Jake to the scenic countryside of San Isidro, Montalban (later to be called Rodriguez) in the Province of Rizal where he decided to build a weekend place for his family and, of course, IO and his other pets. It was 1992.

By 1994, the land within AVILON had been leveled and the concrete hollow block perimeter walls finished. Several man-made lagoons and ponds were then excavated, and the Big Lagoon where the Pavilion now stands is the largest, comprising an area of 3,000 square meters. Construction of animal exhibits followed, starting off with the Corrals where hoofed animals are being kept, the Multi-Purpose Building (now the Herpetarium) and the Hexagonal Birdcages (now the Avian Exhibit), followed by the Crocodiles and the Hornbills enclosures,and many more.

Aside from steel and cement, the construction required tons of huge rocks, river boulders and adobes of different textures, colors and shades, which were sourced from quarries in Luzon and as far as Mindanao. Saplings of a wide variety of native and exotic trees, bamboos, palms,epiphytes, vines and shrubs were also acquired to create a natural setting to the once barren landscape. A greenhouse was also built to house and propagate plants for landscaping use.

Then the SECOND turning point came in the person of Mrs. Teena Gaw who had only a vague idea of what Mr. Jake Gaw was doing in Montalban. An auspicious trip by Mrs. Teena Gaw to the construction site, some AVILON is a perfect place to know more about Wildlife and Nature. Guided Tours and Educational Fieldtrips offer guests/visitors a privilege to observe and know more about the ecology and behavior of the animals, and how we can help conserve and protect the threatened and endangered species, and also on how to help save and protect our environment. Sometime in 1995, resulted ultimately in the decision to develop the Weekend place into a Zoo. THUS AVILON ZOO WAS BORN.

From then onwards, Jake, the animal hobbyist had to literally transform himself into Jake, the Zoo Administrator. It was a one-man-army task, so to say. With helpful suggestions from Mrs. Teena Gaw and friends, the construction went into high gear.

AVILON over the next years gradually "evolved" into a zoological and botanical park.

But why the name AVILON?

Having had to decide a name for this wildlife sanctuary, Jake thought of combining two French words: AVES meaning of or about BIRDS, and LON meaning LAND, to form the word AVILON or LAND OF THE BIRDS.

And of course, AVILON is not just about birds. With its large exhibits of more than 3,000 specimens of exotic and endemic animals represented by more than 600 species of birds, mammals, reptiles, fishes and invertebrates, and close to 400 species of plants, of which more than 50% are Philippine endemics, AVILON ZOO is one of the zoos in Southeast Asia having the most diverse representation of flora and fauna.

AVILON ZOO adopted the motto: Celebrating Life! to symbolize its philosophy. Life is precious and every living creature on Earth has a right to live --- freely and fully. AVILON endeavors to showcase the Living Creatures that share the Earth with us in all its diversity and splendor; its cycles of birth and rebirth; its fragility and resiliency.

COME CELEBRATE LIFE AT THE AVILON ZOO!