A trip to the Zoo/Animal Entertainment Center

We went to the Ningbo Zoo on Sunday, a simple family trip that should justify a simple blog post with cute pictures and stories. But it is not so simple. Not because the trip was long or anything went wrong or haywire, but because of the zoo itself. Some background information is required before I can show the cute photos and stories of how much fun the Zookeeper had. Or you can just scroll down to the cute photos, if you want.

We have been to more than our share of zoos since Milan started calling himself Zookeeper, sometime around March. If I remember correctly, it all started during a trip to the National Zoo with Sally, who was visiting DC and wanted to see the cats at the zoo. We happened to catch the demonstration outside the elephant house where the zookeepers show how they do the daily checks on the elephants' teeth, feet, trunks, etc. I explained to Milan what a zookeeper is and I think it was later that day that he started to call himself Zookeeper.

It was that same trip to the zoo with Sally that we talked about the philosophy behind zoos. Usually I went to the zoo with Milan and wasn't able to have such interesting adult conversations. Sally said she used to feel unhappy about the fate of the animals in the zoos, confined to an enclosure, pacing back and forth all day without the freedom they would enjoy in the wild. But somewhere along the line she started thinking about the benefits for an animal living in a zoo. They have some of the best medical care available to animals, they are fed regularly, kept out of danger from predators, are not subject to competition and fighting, and live long healthy lives. In the wild they face disease, famine, weather, battles, and being eaten by their neighbors. I hope I am representing this discussion accurately, Sally. My point is that the Zoological Parks in the U.S. are state-of-the-art facilities dedicated to animal conservation and public education. Zookeepers are real scientists. Zoos are centers for the study of animals and learning how to better protect the species in the wild.

What we visited here is not a Zoological Park. It should be called an "Animal Entertainment Center".

At nearly every animal enclosure you are met by a zoo staff member who is selling food that can be purchased to feed the animals. Chicken parts or a live chicken can be thrown over the wall and across the mote for the lions and tigers.

Zookeeper? The live chickens are in the yellow crate

Tigers waiting for their snack

Leaves and grass for the camels, elephants, zebras, and giraffes.

Leaves for sale

Feeding of the hoofed animals

Even the peacocks get in on the action!

Zookeeper handing out the corn

One thing is for sure. Throwing chunks of meat or flapping chickens into a lion enclosure sure makes things interesting. We saw more aggression and heard more roaring in a few minutes than we saw on safari in Africa, much less at any zoo.

But that is not all. Oh no, that is not all. There was also a full range of entertainment options, inlcuding a mini amusement park, an archery range, a driving range, and a race course for horses (that is audience participation - you do the racing, as far as we can tell). One minute we thought we were in a zoo, then an amusement park, then a circus. The circus involved tigers doing dumb tricks like turning in a circle or jumping through a ring of fire. I was not impressed. I would rather see them lounging around happy. Sorry, trying to be objective in my reporting here.

But this is all not to say that we didn't have fun! And Milan was in heaven. Here is his face at the first sighting of the tigers:

Zookeeper back in his element.

I am watching to see if his fantasy zookeeper play now involves throwing chunks of meat at the carnivores.

They had an amazing monkey/primate area with more species than we had even seen. And some of the cages allowed you to get up close and personal with the little rascals. Tim got a little too close with his camera while he was taking a video of one little guy:



We had a nice visit and Milan ran around and had a blast. The weather cooperated and we covered some serious ground (the place must be twice as large as the National Zoo in terms of area). And I know we'll be back because Milan is still the Zookeeper.

As we were leaving we looked over the map and realized that we had missed the Dragon's Lair Cave and the Hall of Alien Creatures. Oh yes, we'll be back.