Journey to Peace Village

Today I ventured out with three of my fellow teachers for a visit to the Ha Noi Zoo.

It's not like a zoo back in the USA. It's more a combination of zoo and Chuck E Cheese. There are all kinds of kids rides and games and many vendors selling toys. The animals are almost an afterthought.

Many Asian zoos are dismal places where the animals are not in good condition. On this count, the zoo was better than some I've heard of; but still not that great. The condition of the animals varied from species to species. The monkeys were in great shape, healthy, fat, rambunctuous. The hippo was fat and sassy and my co teacher Gauda was able to get her to catch crackers. Other animals did not fare as well. The ostriches were bare on their backs, losing feathers, probably to malnutrition. The deer were very skinny. The tigers were a bit thin too, although the female recently had cubs that seemed to be very healthy. The mother had been rescued from an illegal animal market in Hue.

There are many types of birds at the zoo, mostly tropical species. There was a large bird with a very bony head, I don't know if this bird was just malnourished or if it was supposed to be like that. It's whole body looked prehistoric.

It had rained in Ha Noi and was a little cooler, but this didn't matter. By the end of two hours in the Vietnamese humidity, I was drenched with sweat. Still it was an interesting experience to get another insight into Vietnamese culture.

Labels: conservation and ecology, Viet Nam, wildlife