Animal Passion

No I am not talking about the raw and unrestrained animal passion in our human hearts. Not today anyway. According to a report, there has been steadily increasing number of youths who go to the Zoo of Barcelona, not accompanying or accompanied by children. It obviously seems a pleasant place to visit, passing some enjoyable hours outdoors with the desired companion; not for strenuous exercise like hiking or climbing mountains, but to laze about, to strengthen the friendship or, why not, the budding love, with cuddles and kisses, in the fresh air instead of an enclosed space, amongst roars and howls, contrasting with the tender sentiments and gentle caresses.

There are others also without children, middle aged or old couples not encumbered with unwritten duties of looking after or entertaining their grand children. They go too to the zoo to have a leisurely day, entertaining themselves, for a change, contemplating the animals, the vigorous pacing of the gorillas, the majestic air of the lions and, watching the happy and smiling faces watching the animals with delighted squeals.

With more than a million of visitors to the zoo each year, the zoo staffs, administrators and animal care takers have collected some interesting anecdotes to tell, quite funny I thought:

• In search of shoes - One of their frequent jobs is to go around gathering up objects some absent minded visitors left behind. Very recently a carer had to practically fight a huge hippopotamus to retrieve some shoes.


• A donation - A cheque of €60 was received by the zoo, with a note attached from the kind hearted donator, which says: "This is to help with the cost of insecticide against flies that continuously annoying the camels."


• Friend of the bears - One afternoon a zoo staff and a visitor greatly surprised each other, when the latter was caught red handed throwing some liquid out of a jar on a couple of bears. It turned out to be the urine of that same young man, who justified his strange act with the explanation, that he wished the animals to familiar themselves with his smell, so that he could go over the fosse (moat?) to play with them.


• Against sexism - Also about bears. One of these were picking up dried leaves with one of his paws. "It's a female, right?" asked a child. " As it's doing some cleaning up." His
  'logical' deduction. It was actually a male.


• The fable - A teacher asked his very young pupils: "What do wolves eat?". One of the youngster said: "Children." and another said: "Red RidingHood."!

Tags:redriringhood,zoo

Current Mood: Cheerful