Thailand Journal – Entry 6 - Zoo Trek

During September, my school week consisted purely of the Thai oral language course, whereby I would be able to learn Thai and thus, fit in better with daily life. Class starts at 9:30am and runs until 3:30pm with a lunch break in between (I have found consistence in eating Chicken Fried Rice everyday for about USD $1). This occurs for most of the week excluding the weekend and, thankfully, Wednesday.

I took the opportunity one Wednesday to visit the Chiang Mai Zoo, which has since become a key part of local tourism after the introduction of two giant pandas. The two panda’s (and the zoo) enjoy great popularity in Chiang Mai and an extra charge was established at the zoo just to see them. Captive pandas are, like their wild cousins, rare and only a handful exist outside China. I saw this as an exciting bonus.

The first thing to be noted about the zoo is that it is built upon the side of a mountain. Anyone who is not a fan of the trek to the North American exhibit at the Toronto Zoo would likely elect to patronize the zoo’s monorail system. I chose to walk and although the heat was occasionally oppressive, I’ve done enough volunteering at Jungle Cat World to handle a bit of physical exertion in less than ideal environments.

I will make no qualms about it: I went straight to the big cats, which were conveniently located together in a large system of adjoining enclosures with mock-rock ridges dividing them. Though I came to see the Bengal tigers (a sub-species I have not seen since the summer of 2004), I was interested to see the other cats as well which included a jaguar with two cubs, three leopards (one melanistic or “black”), two white tigers (actually leucystic), a pair of African lions with a cub (a few months old) and a pair of white lions. The latter showed signs of inbreeding, which is what happens when a rare genetic trait in big cats meets overwhelming popularity. However, I was pleased to see that the information given at the white tiger enclosure noted that they are not a separate subspecies in need of special wild conservation plans (which is a far too common misconception exploited by some nefarious “zoo” operators). It seemed as though they were breeding them though, which is something I don’t really feel comfortable with given the problems arising from aforementioned inbreeding.

I found it interesting that for a good part of the day, a table was set up in front of the jaguar enclosure advertising the prospect of feeding them for a small fee. This entailed giving visitors a long stick with a piece of meat to wave around and give the cats through the fence. From what I saw, the zoo staff member was demonstrating that it is more interesting to let them work for their food. I’m not entirely sure whether there are limits to how much gets fed to the jaguars or if it really is such a good idea for joe public to have such close contact, but if funding goes back to the zoo to better the care of the animals and if the animals are enriched by having to work for their food, perhaps it is a good idea. It is an interesting enrichment idea, but I’d have to check with greater minds to see if this is a valid practice.

The African lion enclosure was very spacious , not to mention gorgeous and the male lion seemed active enough. He seemed to be wary of me, but his attention didn’t hold for long. The cub made great sport out of bothering his dad, which was quite fun to watch, although part of me worried the male would give a good swat. Fortunately, that didn’t happen and the big male simply got up in frustration and walked to another location to nap.

I spent most of the day at the Bengal tiger enclosure, which seemed not as generous with space as the lion enclosure and for want of enrichment, but respectable, compared to most zoos. I arrived to see a male (distinguished by his big boofy head) grooming himself near the back of the enclosure. He was soon prompted to get up and start patrolling the front of his enclosure, which has likely become routine with the number of guests that visit – he’s got to protect his mate after all. When the guests slowed to a trickle and I became part of the scenery, the male retired to the shade and began napping. I returned later and he eventually patrolling his enclosure again, but this time, the female joined him, who was naturally a bit smaller. I’m different from most people in that, I can go to a zoo and spent almost the entire time in front of the tiger enclosure, even when they are not active; this is why I will go to a zoo alone: people wouldn’t be able to put up with my stubbornness. I firmly believe that tigers are one of the most beautiful animals to ever live on this planet and their behaviour fascinates me to no end. If I’m not simply consumed by their presence, I will try to predict their behaviour and occasionally I throw out the occasional chuff to see if they would reply (it worked at the Toronto Zoo a few times, albeit in closer proximity). When they rest, I’ll think. If my fateful experience at that zoo in 2004 has taught me anything (aside from purpose), it is that for all the beautiful photos of tigers, they fail to compare with seeing one alive and in the flesh. I get drunk on the experience and it often inspires me for an extended period after I leave.

I did visit other areas of the zoo, include the pandas. I was quite amused by their behaviour, which seemed to match the characature that was engrained in my mind. One of them seemed quite content with a large bush of bamboo in front of it, sitting upright to inspect the best pieces and chomping away blissfully. It eventually climbed on to a log for a snooze.

I scaled parts of the mountain where no visitor seemed to want to go, but I was able to see some interesting ungulates like bantang (an endangered SE Asian bovid), and even Eld’s deer (one of the most endangered, if not the most endangered deer on the planet. The latter formed a large heard that completely surrounded me as I walked through them, watching me in silent unease. It was quite eerie, but at the same time amusing to have so many eyes following your every move. I couldn’t help but remind myself of a tiger strolling through a grassland occupied by deer.

While up on the mountain, I began to feel the trickle of rain. I whipped out the umbrella not a moment too soon as the trickle soon turned into a torrent. This seems to be usual for Thailand: rain will appear virtually from out of nowhere only to give way soon afterwards to a sunny sky. I assume this is especially true for mountainous areas as the topography means air pushed up their slopes cools, looses the ability to hold moisture and dumps the moisture as rain. However, this time, the rain continued to fall in large quantities for longer. I stayed at the tiger enclosure, which had a walkway shielded from the rain. The rain lasted for an hour or two (the lions didn’t seem to happy) and as it died down I decided to make the trip back home. A red-taxi ride through town showed me just how much rain had fallen. One street seemed to be flooded with about 6 inches of rain.

...and this was at the end of the rainy season.