stories, from africa: Zoo

We went to the Abidjan zoo for a class trip. I generally tend to stay away from African zoos because I cannot bear to see the state of the animals. There had been some recent work done, however, and my co-teacher arranged the trip through one of the parents (and the minister of forestry and agriculture I believe.) I had a bit of hope that it wouldn't be so bad. I took a lot of photos because I thought it might be interesting to see what kind of animals and conditions are found in a zoo in Africa (myth busting again, I suppose.)

The truth is, African zoos have many of the same animals as other zoos, though they do tend to be heavy on crocodiles for some reason. Maybe crocodiles are particularly easy to get and maintain...?
In the end, I didn't feel too terrible about the experience, perhaps because it was well shaded and full of trees or perhaps because I have become accustomed to things being hard and unfair sometimes.

Forbidden to feed the animals. 10,000 franc fine (about 20$)

You can see how tempting it is to feed the animals because
you can get so close to their cages

Lots of greenery- and a garbage bin

Tires for the monkeys

This bird is on the 10,000 franc

The signs don't give much information

Inside the learning center

Two different guides told me 2 different stories about this thing-
part art/part animal fur or 100% art?

Tables and chairs all ready for little visitors

But I was still stuck on these odd animal heads

Super sad gorilla looking out from behind his bars

A friendly elephant....but oh so lonely

The minister feeds the baby

Of course the kids take a turn next

Several exhibits were sponsored by organizations-
this one was slightly disturbing to me

There's a big cat in there. He has more room than some
of the animals but it still doesn't really seem like enough

Goats and tires. Our guide told us goats don't really belong
in the zoo because they are domesticated.

This is not the animal hospital- it's an exhibit sponsored by the Swiss

Overall, a cool shady walk

The lion is outside. There are two females "in the kitchen"

Space for 3 lions. I have seen worse.

A newer sign with more information

I was constantly in awe of how close we were able to get to the animals.
The lion was only far away because he chose to be.

A galapagos turtle, said to be 100 years old. Our guide didn't know how
they determine a turtle's age exactly. Science, was her first reply.
Then she gave a good example of how information is passed orally
and suggested that perhaps that is how we determine their age.
But if no human is present when a turtle is born, does it really have an age?

A lot of the markings showed clear links to African art and fabrics

I'm not sure what the bamboo is for, still plenty of space
for little fingers to get into-or out of- the monkey cage

A scene of the city beyond the zoo

Love this bird head- reminded me of art and dance

New baby born at the zoo...forever enchained

The bamboo fence doesn't strike me as all that prohibitive

The civet cats were a hard exhibit to view. They have one of the
smallest enclosures. There are 3 in this small space and they just
pace back and forth all day. The guide suggested that if they had
a bigger enclosure then we wouldn't be able to see them.
They've been captured and put here so we can view them.
It almost seemed to make sense the way she said it.