It's all happening at the zoo

I do believe it, I do believe it's true....
(sorry for the lapse into Simon & Garfunkel)

Anyway, it is a nice zoo, the one here in Mysore. The animals seem fairly content. The big cats seem to be the least so, they pace in their cages or sleep. Those big cats are quite beautiful, the white tiger with the deep blue eyes is a real stunner. All of them have been 'adopted' by individuals, including BKS Iyengar or companies like Infosysis, even a few youngsters have 'adopted' some of them. They have signs on their cages telling us so. There are also signs that non of the animals have been captured from the wild unless sick or young and motherless. Another words, these animals would be dead if they weren't here. The orangutang seems bored, but philosophical. The birds are beautiful and seem to have a good social network going.

I was pleasantly surprised at seeing all the creatures here. I've seen a lot of them in film and TV, but to see them close up, I do admit to being a bit 'star struck'. The birds were much more engaging to me, so much more vital and strong and colorful than seeing them on a flat screen. I loved the flamingos soft pink feathers, standing on one deep salmon colored webbed foot, head tucked into his wings sound asleep. The tigers were massive, but leaner and softer (from being in captivity? or just seeing them closer?) The markings are remarkable. The giraffes were HUGE! And kind of strange looking. Those nobby things on their heads and the long neck and short body, kind of weird, and very massive. The young leopard allowed his zoo keeper to scratch him behind the ears.

It was a lovely way to spend a very hot day. This zoo does not seem to be about gawking at animals in cages, though that is one thing one does, it seems more involved with the wildlife. There were hand painted signs with hand made illustrations of the animals describing where there habitats were, their size, gestation period, life span, what they normally eat and what they are fed at the zoo. I appreciated the info and the effort. I am not much of a zoo attendee, assuming they are cruel, inhumane places, but it didn't seem that way here. Afterwards I felt a bit closer to the animals, after getting a bit closer to them. It was a pleasant, benign excursion, finished off with a coconut water and gungee (the white meat inside) for a little electrolyte and hydration.