I have been wanting to do this forever, the Friday Shoot out topic this week gave me a reason to do it NOW. Camillo and I had a business appointment downtown early Thursday morning and because the Zoo is close we stopped by. I can’t say I was surprised by this zoo, I did not have high expectations and it didn’t prove me wrong. I would say on a scale of 1 – 10 of zoos I have been to, this one was 3. Camillo said a 1.
The entrance is quite nice. Built on the grounds of the former king’s summer home there are remnants of grander times gone by. The admittance fee was only R$6.00 – mid week discount – student price. I would be willing to pay R$ 10.00 if that meant the zoo had been a little better maintained (maintenance is never a Brasilian strong suite)
There were not maps given out or even sold …. there was this hard-to-figure-out grounds plan just inside the entrance, so without a something to guide us, we just walked slowly around and it took us about an hour. I don’t particularly like to make comparisons but just on size – I have spent 3 hours in the Houston Zoo and only seen half of the animals, so this one is quite small.
Maybe my attitude about zoos is just evolving but I hated seeing the few animals that were there behind chicken wire fences. I was depressed and they seemed depressed. Many of the animals that I know live in groups or families, were alone. Too many times to count, when they noted my interest they turned their backs on me …. See the little guy up on the little house, doesn’t he look like he is up there to look out at the trees on the other side of the brick fence…..?
There was one elephant, and two giraffes but in separate areas. Am I projecting? But are they depressed living alone without their families? About half the available pens were empty. A few areas were closed for repairs. We saw 3 large snakes, a branch of turtles, one alligator, one brown and one black bear. And one really fine tree. 
and lots and lots of exotic birds.
The turtles were priceless! Great photos and great post.
ReplyDeleteSome zoos are like that, aren't they, Ginger? I been to some where I have come away feeling just plain sad. I'm sorry the one you visited was a disappointment but you did get some lovely shots. Love your branch of turtles, maybe because it's hard to tell if a turtle is happy or sad. Maybe we have a happy topic coming up soon.
ReplyDeleteI love the hammock for the orangutang. You did make it seem so sad there. I too often feel sorry for the animals. We have 5 Elephants and 6 giraffes at our soon and they seem pretty happy, who knows.
ReplyDeleteHappy Weekend.
did you feel like a queen when you were there?
ReplyDeleteGood they open up the place for the common people to enjoy.
Great great photos but I am a bit like you. I dont like to see animals caged and I did get the feeling that those animals were sad from your photos.
ReplyDeleteGreat post, Ginger. I too have mixed feelings about zoos. They can do a lot to inspire people to appreciate wild animals and want to protect them, but the way they're kept - alone or nearly so, in small enclosures with little to do - is just criminal. It may be a good thing your zoo doesn't have more animals, if it can't keep proper care of the ones it has.
ReplyDeletemaybe I should have gone to the zoo last week - in search of the dark side. I went on line last night to see if I could find the stats on this zoo, it sounded very nice....wonder if who wrote down the information had been to this one.... they sited documentation from 1996 - maybe 14 years made the difference.
ReplyDeleteHey, Ginger! Back from the lost for a few hours...what I love about your post is that you focus on the architecture and setting as much as the animals. I miss you. Of course, I realize that I am the one who is missing...I'll pop in again now and then.
ReplyDeleteThanks for coming by Mark - the focus on the architecture is because I didn't see many animals. I miss your posts also - but I am there every time you write something.... I saw you poem this morning - wasn't sure I understood so I didn't comment.
ReplyDeleteLove that turtles shot!
ReplyDeleteYeah, Luiz and I went to the Rio zoo a few years ago and definitley left feeling sad. The elephant had one leg chained to a point in the cement and had been hitting its head against the wall so much he (she?) had open sores. Yuck.
ReplyDeleteI have been hearing of recent improvements to the zoo so have been a bit curious to return. But you have saved me the trouble.
Loved the photography, as usual.
Zoos and the little zoo parks here always leave me depressed. Even the Sao Paulo Zoo, reportedly quite wonderful, was not so great in my opinion. Although we do get a chuckle any time we see "exotic North American Mallard duck" as an exhibit animal....
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