The Zoo at Children’s grand park reminds me of a scene from the movie “The Lion King”. Not one of the scenes where all the beautiful, wild animals roam the lush, green African plains but the one where the Scar has taken over the pride lands, over used and abused the water and food sources and the whole area is dry, barren and somewhat sinister.
I was so excited this morning at the prospect of going to the Zoo. I was even watching THIS video on repeat, excited about seeing the lions and tigers and zebras and elephants and all the other awesome animals.
An Unhappy tiger at Seoul Zoo
On the subway my friend Brooke was singing silly animal songs and when we approached the entrance to what Wikipedia claims to be “The 10th biggest Zoo in the world” she ran towards the gates! We got on a little tram-car that brought us past Seoul-Land mini theme park then to the Zoo entrance.
The first things we saw were the Giraffes. And it was pretty much from the minute I say them standing there in these small enclosure nibbling on the ROCK FACE, that right eating ROCKS, I remembered how much I hated Zoo’s. I guess once you have lived in Africa and done a Safari in the Masaii Mara and Kruger National Park it’s hard to appreciate animals in a Zoo or hard to like the Zoo at all.
Poor Polar Bear
All the animals looked so…sad.The flamingos were all huddled up in this corner under electronic heaters, the zebras looked cold and cramped, and the hippos were stuck in this tiny pool, all squashed in together. The polar bear walked back and forth in its area which was full of mould, dead fish and not enough water. It looked equally bored, sad and lonely. It was so depressing.
All the big cats were simply sleeping in tiny cages, as we viewed in through the gaps in the bars to observe them. I guess the only thing I did actually like about the Zoo were the monkeys. They had a nice amount of space and plenty of trees and toys to swing off of and stay entertained, as well as entertaining us with their bare baboon bums and sky blue balls!!!
(Un)Happy Hippo
All the big cats were simply sleeping in tiny cages, as we viewed in through the gaps in the bars to observe them. I guess the only thing I did actually like about the Zoo were the monkeys. They had a nice amount of space and plenty of trees and toys to swing off of and stay entertained, as well as entertaining us with their bare baboon bums and sky blue balls!!!
The only thing I can compare Seoul Zoo with is another one I have been to; Fota Wildlife Park, back home in Cork, Ireland where I live. Fota wildlife is 100 times better than Seoul Zoo. Seoul Grand park may be the 10th biggest in the world but it is far from the 10th “best”.
Mmm delicious rock...
Everything from the grasslands to the wide open spaces, and what seem to be, in general, happy animals make Fota Wildlife Park a great place to visit. Everything from the lack of grass, tiny, cramped enclosures, bad maintenance and what seems to be unhappy animals make Seoul Grand Park Zoo an awful place to visit.
Of course this is just my opinion. I had a great day today, but that was only because I was with a group of my best buddies here in Korea. Their company, and not the animals, made this day a success.
Bars and Stripes
