Chimelong Zoo
They didn’t have adult size in tiger hats.
Two days before I left Guangzhou for Hong Kong, I finally made it to Chimelong Zoo. I had been wanting to go there all year, but never made it. It’s one of two zoos in Guangzhou, but by far the bigger of the two. It’s part of the Chimelong Park in Panyu that consists of a theme park, water park, zoo, circus, and hotel. It’s a bit outside of downtown, but easily accessible by subway.
My friend, Jess, and I headed out early on a misty Friday morning. For the most part the zoo wasn’t overloaded with visitors-due to the weather I’m sure. Overall, my experience at the zoo was good, yet disconcerting. Many of the animals were placed in small areas which I’m guessing were just during park hours, because sometimes I could see through the fences behind that there were more animals. But for a lot of these spaces like the monkeys, rhinoceroses, and bears, the only thing separating them and the visitors was a little moat. I couldn’t believe my eyes! I’m pretty sure monkeys and bears can climb (right through the moat) and rhinos are pretty tough. So while I could get close to the animals it made me nervous that they could get close to me!
Far and away my favorite animals there were the giraffes. They were so graceful when they walked and are much bigger than I thought. They had an area where you could feed them leaves, which many people did, but I wanted to keep a respectful distance. I got close once, but barely long enough for a picture. I must explain the reasoning for my ridiculous face in this photo. Back in ’06 when Brad and I traveled to Europe and in Vienna, I stood next to a horse and carriage for a picture. I thought I was out of reach of the horse, and as I was posing for the picture it turned its head and nudged me with its nose. I jumped and screamed like an idiot, but since then I am weary of posing too close to large animals. Actually, any animals for that matter-they’re so unpredictable!
Some animals were more interesting than other, like the elephants and giraffes. However, many of the monkey species downright creeped me out. 1. They are so human like, yet different-it’s like they’re going to say something but then they pick a bug from their head and eat it, or swing to a high up branch, or bare their teeth and scream. 2. Someone needs to put some pants on those male monkeys. How is that not public indecency? I did some major cropping to this photo because the monkey was not very modest.
I think she’s smiling at me.
So this picture doesn’t prove my ‘giraffes are graceful’ opinion, but it was too funny not to put up.
There was a ‘safari’ section of the zoo, which you could drive yourself (in your personal car) or take the train-like car. It wasn’t really a train because it wasn’t connected to rails, but there were three cars and a driver. Many animals roamed freely though this part, like camels, zebras, birds, and again giraffes. Then other sections were separated by feeble looking fences and more pathetic moats. As we drove by the lions, something looked off. One, two, three…six males! There were six male lions hanging out with about a dozen female lions. Now, if I know anything about lions I know that there is one male lion per pride. Yet they were all peacefully lounging about, and it was the same when we came to the tigers. Even if they were bred in captivity (which Chimelong has a big tiger breeding center), they’d still have instincts that would urge them to fight for dominance, I assume. This is very strange business. Could the animals be drugged? I’ve heard of rumors at zoos around the world doing that-but no one admits it.
So, while it was interesting to get close to the animals, I wouldn’t go back. Once is good enough.
