The Zoo (da jew!) Part II
Trip Start
Mar 23, 2010
1
28
49
Trip End
Ongoing
Munhŭng-dong, Gwangju, Korea Rep.
Monday, June 21, 2010
Following that was the hippo (humu in Korean) which they had named "Hippo." Like any hungry kept animal, this one immediately recognized our Zoo Vet and came up open mouthed to recieve some shrubbery. Austin climbed up and threw some greens into the fleshy mouth, much to the delight of watching children.
Next was my favorite, 고랑이! The tiger. A one year old tiger, kept seperate from the zoo's other tigers because it was snubbed by it's mother at birth stalked up to greet our zoo vet, who introduces the animal
"This is my tiger!"
The tiger has been named Kia, after Gwangju's own Kia Tigers baseball team. Kia was raised by the zoo vet and zoo keepers because of it's mother's neglect, and as a young tiger, attended the baseball team's final game last season (in which they too first place.) As the tiger was held up to the crowd, the roaring cheers scared it so much that it lost all bowel control. The unfortunate VIP sitting next to our friend was showered in baby tiger poop.
Thinking quickly, I as to pet the tiger ( a chance I've never had!) and as I reach my hand in the tiger nuzzles up against me, slobbering on my fingers with a lap of it's tongue, and making a sound which resembles a very large gutteral purr...
From the tiger it's on to the other animals of the zoo, including native korean deer, a camel named Bong Bong (for the two humps on it's back) and a house of monkeys, to whom we throw fruits, and who catch them with ease. One monkey has been thrown some duk (rice cake) which can't be healthy... it is sucking on it from it's plastic bag with a satisfied and pensive expression. As fun as feeding monkeys can be, the zoo did have an incident last year when a boy's finger was nearly bitten off, resulting in a large bit of trouble for the zoo.
Verdict: The zoo needs some major modernization here, but was a really enjoyable day with our new language friends!
