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Published: December 8th 2008
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This past Sunday, the day after the Thanksgiving feast, I decided to check one of the local attractions off my list and went to visit the Sri Racha Tiger Zoo, which was very. . . interesting. You can pay to have your picture taken with a variety of creatures at this zoo--baby tigers, orangutans, small crocodiles, etc. I overheard an Australian guy saying to his friends, "We all know we came here for the cheesy photos, so let's get some and get out of here."
At first I thought that maybe it would be a place I could try to get the school to take the kids for a field trip (if they even do field trips?) for science, but in the end I didn’t even ask about school or group rates. Though there were some informational displays scattered about, the zoo seemed more concerned with spectacle than education, and while it was clean and spacious and the animals seemed well-cared-for for the most part, I don’t necessarily want to promote this place to kids. Fortunately, it was at least not a depressing, sad, place with shabby cages and enclosures for forlorn animals, like I have seen in some other
developing countries. All in all, I had an enjoyable day exploring the zoo, despite the aforementioned concerns.
The first thing I saw, and perhaps what impressed me most about the zoo, was a HUGE crocodile pond. I wish I would have remembered to ask someone how many crocodiles they have, because there are literally hundreds upon hundreds, sunning themselves on the banks and relaxing with their nostrils just above the waterline in the lake. A lot of them were all snuggled up and entangled. And they were frequently lying on top of each other. I took a bunch of pictures of the strange prehistoric creatures, in part to show the kinders for math because we are learning about greater than/less than and, as I think I was also taught, I am using the hungry crocodile metaphor—the one where the crocodile is soooo hungry, he has to eat the bigger number so he won’t be hungry anymore, so the open mouth (> <) points toward the bigger number. I think they will love to see the real pictures instead of my mediocre-at-best drawings of crocodiles.
I went to the crocodile show first. It was all in Thai, so I
don’t know if there was anything educational about it or not. There were two trainers, a man and a woman, and I felt certain that they were going to get chomped all throughout the show. The little stage area had a moat around it where the crocs relaxed when not performing. At the beginning of the show, both trainers grabbed the crocs one by one by the tail and pulled them up onto the wet deck. But when the man did it, he first turned the crocs round and round, whipping each one into a mad frenzy, powerful jaws snapping shut just short of his backside again and again. The most impressive stunt was when the man slip-and-slide-d his way across the stage on his belly to give one of the crocs a kiss. Both trainers also posed with their heads inside a crocodile's open mouth.
Then on to the tiger show. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a circus, but, as in the case of the crocodile show, I felt extremely nervous for the trainers throughout the performance. The tigers kept roaring at them, and one time with good reason—the tiger obviously had to go
to the bathroom and didn’t want to get down from his pedestal until he had done so. As soon as he was finished (I felt embarrassed for him, having to go in front of all those people in the middle of the show--where is the dignity in that?), he hopped gingerly down and sauntered over to do his trick. Another tiger decided he needed to mark his territory, which must have been the first row of the audience, because I’m fairly certain that they caught at least of few drops of perhaps the most pungent liquid I have ever smelled.
The tigers had to jump through the proverbial (and literal) hoops, including the flaming hoops at the end, but my favorite part of the show was the pig. A HUGE pig came out at the beginning of the show to unfurl a little sign welcoming us to the performance. His next trick was distinguishing 4 different colors of sticks. He had to trot over to the sticks, pick one up and bring it back to put in the corresponding colored bowl. He was pretty good! I caught a short video of it, so check it out. All I could
think was: “That’s some pig!”
I skipped the elephant show because I could already guess what was going on there—painting, propping themselves up on each others’ backs, and maybe making pad thai? I don’t need to see that one. But I did stop by to watch people feeding baby tigers out of bottles (adorable and sloppy at the same time). I winced to see little Thai children putting their fingers into the cages (clearly marked "Do not touch" in English and Thai) to pet the tigers. I stopped for a while to admire the orangutans--so humanoid and filled with personality. I shook one of their hands, which was so strange and leathery on the palm side and furry on the other side, and super strong all around. After about 10 seconds I started to get a little nervous of his strength when he wouldn't let go.
One of the most bizarre exhibits was called "Happy Family," which consisted of 2 dogs, a tiger, and a big pig that live together in the same enclosure. The family didn't seem too happy when I got there, but I realized that it was just before feeding time and the tiger was
pacing around and growling, menacing both the pig and the dogs. But everyone seemed happier once his/her custom food arrived. Just beyond the "Happy Family" exhibit were two poor guys who had to wear Flintstones-esque costumes as they posed tigers in front of the glass for people to take pictures of. I had to put a tip in the tip box in compensation for the dignity that they lost in those outfits. But the handlers weren't the only ones in absurd costumes. The final exhibit I saw had a huge sow in one enclosure with baby tigers, who apparently drink her milk, and in the next pen was a mother tiger with several piglets dressed in little tiger suits. Really weird. Strangely cute. A little misguided.
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