Saturday, December 18, 2010

The Zoo

Recently Gavin and I checked out the Saigon Zoo on our day off.  We were prepared for cramped cages and depressed animals and generally found just that. But we were surprised by the expanse of the adjoining gardens and the reasonable accommodation enjoyed by some.  Although many of the mammals appeared to be descending into madness (e.g. a jungle cat obsessively circling in the same pattern around its cage), they appeared well fed and cleaned up after.  Here are some pictures of our animal friends.

Mama Giraffe
Baby Giraffe
Giraffe with Zebra housemate.
Zebra
Goats
and Sheep
Pregnant Goat resting on a concrete bench (Gavin thinks that "the zoo had to enlarge the Petting Zoo due to the reproductive success of its inhabitants, yet neglected to remove the human infrastructure".)
Hungry Goats


Cute little goat faces
A hungry hungry Hippo moving about





A giant looming in the forest
A solitary orangutan who enjoys carrots and demands more and more




Antelope, deer and wild boars living together

The princess of all the animals
An incarcerated tiger
A Burmese python
An Iguana
Another trapped python (this one would follow your finger if you moved it in front of the glass!)
Elephants
And more Elephants. Check out a video of them HERE


The elephants enjoyed being fed sugar cane.

A lonely little guy (a Pine Marten) who had an identity issue due to being mistakenly placed in the heart of the reptile house.  He didn't like it so much, so he spent his entire day jogging in paranoid circles.

Little cats.


Big cats.

A small girl dangerously close to crazy cats
An explorer on the move.
A Binturong lazing away on a branch. They are known as bear cats, but are actually closely related to civets and can live up to twenty years in captivity.

3 comments:

Isis said...

That's so funny you would post about The Zoo, as I am now visiting my Family, enough said.

Great pics, I really liked the little cat, he's cute!! The Hippo also looked very happy. I hate to see animals cooped up, but there was one quite tall animal walking around, "looming in the Jungle." Lol!!

Great pics of you as well! You're so pretty Nellie ... You are G are gonna have some stunning children.

I'm just chillin here at the Ranch, sewing some Projects and crocheting a Kitty Cat Hat. I'll send you pics when it's done. My white faux fur coat has been quite a hit, but alas in SE Asia such things don't exist, like Dental Floss.

Glad you're keeping up with your Travel Journal. I always look forward to seein what's new w u. Xox.

Carol said...

I love the elephant pictures and the video, they look like they are doing a little dance....was it all about the sugar cane?

Nellie said...

Isis- There was actually a little girl in school today who had on a little yellow romper that hardly covered her privates and then had on a giant plaid and faux fur jacket. I wished I had had my camera!

Mom- The dance I think we due to them being on a sugar high from the sugarcane. They literally would grab out at any slight movement hoping for a treat. It was wild!