Camels, Lions, and Bears, oh my!

October 11, 2009

My first time in a marchutka was memorable--I randomly saw a camel on the street. A camel in Samara does not make sense to me. From that moment on, I was determined to find this camel again. Yesterday, I was looking at the city map and found that there’s a zoo. I figured this camel would be there.

Today, I went to the Samara Zoo. When I first entered the park, the smell of the animals hit me like a bus. After overcoming the shock, I laughed uncontrollably. Sorry, Samara.

Samara Zoopark. This is the first thing I saw when I walked in. That's also the entire zoo. 100 rubles for the entrance ticket.

Lo and behold, I found the camel. When I found him, he was walking around with a kid riding in between his humps. That didn't faze me, but I was a little disgusted when I saw the handler kidding the camel on the mouth. Maybe I am showing the American in me because "PDA (public displays of affection) is not okay." This includes PDA with animals.

This is the infamous camel of Samara. I still laugh when I see this.

The animals were in cages like the ones you find in pet stores--my Polish flat mate said that it reminded him of an animal shelter for homeless pets. There were not even wallpapers or posters in the cages to emulate the animals’ real environments--just concrete walls, fencing, and a tin roof. Alia (from Egypt) excitedly told me that this was also how it is in her country. It was also really funny (in a sad way, of course) to see the animal food. To me, it seems as though every animal was fed the same kind of food; raw meat, some fruit, and crackers for people (sushki).

Chicken. aka. dinner.

Besides the camel, I saw: a donkey, pony, deer, raccoon, crocodile, cheetah, bear, lions, various birds (some rare ones), stray kittens, chicken, monkeys, snakes, other reptiles, and fish. I felt terribly for the animals because the space was too small for any of them to get proper exercise. I also felt terrible in my stomach from the noxious animal fumes.

Rabbits in separate cages. See the toy bunny on top of the cages?

There were two indoor exhibits--one with birds and another was for “exotic” animals. In these indoor parts, there were portable heaters to keep the place warm. I am afraid that if the idea was to create a tropical-like climate, the zookeepers failed miserably. I wonder what happens to the outdoor animals during the harsh Russian winter. Actually, I don’t think I want to know the answer. In primary school, I learned that bears and reptiles hibernate in the winter. I don't think they'll be lucky enough to relax like that.

This was the "exotic" room where there were reptiles, fish, monkeys, and the lone lion. The girl lion was outside by herself flirting with the puma and cheetah next door. Not kidding.

Another surprise was seeing a raccoon in the zoo. The Polish flat-mate explained to me that it's normal to have raccoons in zoos because they are North American animals (READ: not in Europe). Imagine his reaction when I explained that in the US, raccoons are treated like rodents because they are nuisances that dig in trashcans at night. And they may carry rabies [see video].




This time, I'm not trying to be offensive to Russian zoo-people. It's just that in the US, we have annoying activist organizations (e.g. PETA) that make sure animals get better rights than our illegal immigrants. That's why my standard for a zoo is considerably high. I used to think that Washington's Smithsonian Zoo was pathetic. Today, I changed my mind. Again, sorry Samara.