Chinese provincial zoo -- LOL!

by **SouthernFriedInfidel** » Fri Aug 16, 2013 8:53 am

Some visitors to a local zoo in Henan province in China may not be completely familiar with such exotic critters as the ones that live in Africa... but they were dead SURE that lions don't BARK.

When the "Lion" started to do THAT, people began asking questions.

Yep -- they really classy folks out in the provinces. When caught (erm... asked by reporters) the zoo said that the real lion was on loan for breeding purposes, and that they would put up signage to inform their dupes (erm... guests) of this fact. What fun.

by **Liv** » Fri Aug 16, 2013 4:37 pm

That is the biggest Chow Chow I've ever seen....

How wouldn't you know it's a dog???? It's a chow... isn't it? That's a Chinese breed. Looks just like my old dog Teddy.

by **A Person** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 2:00 am

It's a Tibetan mastiff

by **SouthernFriedInfidel** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 7:54 pm

And might be an "exotic" animal in North Carolina... but not worthy of being a zoo exhibit. Except maybe up in Murphy.
:mrgreen:

by **Liv** » Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:13 pm

I'm not sure I like zoos to be honest.

The animals always look sad.

I suppose it's the only way some of us will ever see all the animals, but in a world of internet and youtube, perhaps it's necessary to rethink the strategy of cages and the carnivalization of animals.

by **SouthernFriedInfidel** » Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:12 pm

I recall one particular visit to Disney's Animal Kingdom, we wandered up to the tiger enclosure. There were 3 tigers there, playing around in the water, romping like kittens... THAT was a happy visit.

But more seriously, the point of a lot of zoos is not just display of rare beasts for visitors, but also working on conservation efforts to support endangered species. That's something the Internet would have a bit of trouble working on.

by **Liv** » Tue Aug 20, 2013 9:20 pm

I want to visit a zoo with unusual animals.

A great whale, while impractical, would earn my admission money.

by **SouthernFriedInfidel** » Wed Aug 21, 2013 9:23 pm

They have killer whales in Florida, and a couple of whale sharks in Atlanta. Only heard of those... one thing I saw personally is the sunfish they have in the Oceanarium in Lisbon.

THAT was cool!

by **Liv** » Wed Aug 21, 2013 10:42 pm

: tumblr_mnxhvuxRvZ1qf9133o1_500.jpg (18.48 KiB) Viewed 203 times

I was a bit sad when we went to the Monterey Aquarium (as featured in Star Trek) and discovered there were no whales on exhibit.

by **SouthernFriedInfidel** » Thu Aug 22, 2013 9:01 am

Yeah, they kinda need LOTS of space, generally.

Our family has decided to plan on a trip to Hawaii in February of 2015... we'll get to see whales in the wild then, which I think would be way cooler than watching them circle around in tanks anyway.

by **Liv** » Thu Aug 22, 2013 12:28 pm

Shan bought me a whale watching trip when we lived in California.

It was sort of cool, however now, today, I can't recall seeing any of them- though we must have.