November 23, 2003
If I ran the zoo...
... things would be different.
Well, yes. That's because I'm not a zoo person. Most of the times, I just feel very sorry for the animals and that's a gut feeling I can't control. Don't give me the arguments about the conservation of species -- if I see a tiger in a cage, I feel bad for him.
Let's begin at the beginning, though. It was Saturday morning, a glorious sunny day, we had two restless kids on our hands and decided it was the perfect occasion to visit the zoo.
We were prepared for the worst and were pleasantly surprised. The Bucharest Zoo is tucked away in a green, foresty area at the northern end of Bucharest (Baneasa). It's very pleasant out there and has a distinct country feel to it. That is, if you don't venture into the huge construction site that is the residential area of Baneasa and Pipera -- but that's besides the point here.
We arrived early, at about 10 o'clock. The zoo had opened its doors only an hour earlier and there weren't that many cars around. We couldn't spot a parking area, so we just parked our car alongside the road - which turned out to be the parking area because we were charged 30,000 Lei (about 80 European cents) for two hours parking by an authentic looking guy with authentic looking parking stubs.
Another 30,000 Lei brought us into the zoo. Compared to Belgrade, this zoo is, well, rather nice. Much less concrete than the Belgrade zoo, much more metal -- see picture.
(Again, these are thumbnails. Click on the picture to view a larger version.)
The arrangement of animals seemed to me rather eclectic. It started out with flamingos and pelicans, peasants and other birds, then one sort of ran into the tiger cage, to the left were more tigers, a lion, bears, the monkey house (complete with snakes and birds), the reptile house (nice and warm) which also served as a warming station for various homeless dogs.
Since we were early, we came in time for breakfast. This was interesting, gruesome and horrible all at the same time. In the reptile house, the black tegu had two little baby mice in his breakfast dish -- live ones, trying to cuddle together for warmth. I nearly threw up. (Those who know me know that I don't mind gore per se. But to see those helpless little mammals and this stony, expressionless reptile... maybe it's because I'm still nursing.)
The crocodile was cool. It heard the wardens come and scuttled to the door, expecting his breakfast. Imagine his surprise when he was repeatedly whacked on his head with a big hook-on-a-stick contraption and driven back into his pitiful little pond. Then the animal keeper came in and fished the remains of his last dinner, or lunch, or breakfast from the day earlier out of the water. It was eery to watch - like Animal Planet live. The croc stalked him. Doug kept mumbling "watch your back, better watch your back". In the end, nothing happened and the crocodile didn't get breakfast. I guess you have to clear your plate to get more, or something like that. Alan was enthralled. I don't think you can see something like that in a Western Zoo.
We walked down a beautiful alley with more iron fences on each side -- emus next to sheep and lamas and goats.
Interestingly enough, the wolves were kept in cages between the Vietnamese and wooly pigs. One cage wolf, one cage pigs, one cage wolf... I don't know for whom this arrangement was more stressful - the wolves who hear but can't hunt the pigs or the pigs which can smell the wolves but can't run.
In general, the zoo is a bit rundown - rusting metal and crumbling concrete, the cages are small and not exactly equipped with a lot of imaginative interior design, some of the animals don't seem so healthy (one of the parrots is ripping out his feathers, the largers mammals are striding back and forth in their cages in a decidedly odd fashion) but on the whole, we like the zoo fine. It's popular too, because there were a lot of people around. Also, it has quite a range of animals for a small zoo.
I don't think we saw quite the entire collection but Alan started to suffer from brain overstimulation. Most of the times, he sat on his Daddy's shoulders, his mouth hanging open with fascination. We decided it was time to get him to bed for his nap.
When we left, we almost stepped into an evil trap -- traders who sell anything from toy guns over Barbie dolls to balloons and dusters (dusters, you say? I don't know why myself) had set up their stands along the road in front of the zoo. Judging from the kids we'd seen inside the zoo, clutching all sorts of cheap toys, they generally make good business.
Some bare facts on the zoo:
It was first set up as two zoos, one in Bucharest proper and this one in Baneasa, in 1955. In 1962, all the animals had been moved to Baneasa and the zoo became the "Bucharest Zoological Garden". It's almost 6 ha big and houses over 800 animals - mammals, reptiles and birds. Almost half the animals are exotic, the rest are local animal like deer, sheep and various birds.
I'm sure we'll be back. Alan loved it, after all. (Although he was really scared of the elephant.)
Posted by claudia at November 23, 2003 03:18 PMThis year I visited Chester Zoo in UK.
I can't say which one I like more. Chester Zoo is nice. It is big. They have lots of interesting animals. It is much more interactive and "user friendly" for kids.. They can touch footprints, they can smell, they can hear and see some movies.. You can find details about any animal in the zoo... The ZOO have a MAP.. and many other advantages.
The problem there is that the animals have so much space to play... that most of the time you cannot see them.
There is a big hall, "Jaguar's house" sponsored by Jaguar, the car company.. 1 million $ if I remember well.
Very nice.. except.. that we haven't seen any living Jaguarrrr there!! The plants were nice :)
Most probably the animals there have a better life.. but I think the reason to have a Zoo is mainly to educate people rather than helping animals to survive. As far as I know.. most of the endangered animals don't make puppies in captivity.
What I like about our Zoo in Bucharest is that you can see very well the animals.. and the best thing is that in the last years the Zoo changed a lot.. and it continues to improve (I hope).
I like most the bears. One is my favourite.
In UK, the ZOO has an interesting method to get money for animals. You can sponsor the animal you like. I hope this system will work soon in Romania too. I would love to sponsor my bear ;)
And my Elephant.. and the wolfs who are trying to escape from pigs neighbourhood :)
Have fun.
Anca & Misha
Jaguars are extremely shy.
"Even when other normally shy creatures feel free to make spectacles of themselves, the jaguar
remains aloof.
"'Jaguars are so hard to find,' said Dr. Carrillo, a Costa Rican biologist who works for the Wildlife Conservation Society of New York. 'I can be standing right next to one, and I know it because I've picked up the signal from its radio collar, and still I may never see it.'
"His students are well aware of the cat's elusiveness. Roberto Salon, who is working toward a master's at the University of Costa Rica, conceded with some embarrassment that after 18 months of studying jaguars he had yet to see one in the wild.
"'Nobody has ever managed to film a wild female out with her cubs,' said Dr. Alan Rabinowitz, director of science and exploration at Wildlife Conservation Society and head of the entire jaguar program. "You'll see the mother. You'll see signs of the cubs. But you won't see the cubs themselves.'"
Apparently they are very solitary creatures who like to stay under deep cover. This has helped them survive, but it doesn't make them such wonderful zoo animals.
BTW, the Bucharest Zoo also has a jaguar exhibit. But we didn't see the jaguar...
I see you trully like google ;)
Well.. if they are so shy and not good for ZOO.. I still wonder why that ZOO spent 1 milion pounds for this. I think at least they could add some spy video cameras and show some images on the screens.
If you like plants there is a very nice botanic garden near Cotroceni palace.
About Chester Zoo: "CHESTER Zoo – holder of the Good Britain Guide Zoo of the Year award 2003 – has something for everyone.
The biggest zoo in the UK, with over 7000 animals, it was founded by George Mottershead, who was taken to the old Belle Vue Zoo in Manchester when he was young, and declared that his zoo would be ‘a zoo without bars!’
" - http://www.chesterzoo.co.uk/newsitem.asp?ID=17