ReNe: the toronto zoo

Two weeks ago, we went to the Toronto Zoo. It was part of Mike's coursework (I, too, want to take courses that do fieldtrips as a requirement; is it too late for me to become a geologist?) and I tagged along because I've not been to the Toronto Zoo yet.

So while Mike went to listen to a lecture and look at a rhino, I went around on my own. Unfortunately, we somehow decided that Mike should hold our only camera, which on hindsight was a little dumb because I saw a lot more walking on my own; he, on the other hand, took like a hundred shots of that *one* rhino.

So, there will not many pictures in this post.

It was 10am on a Saturday morning and it had been snowing heavily the week before; in fact, it was still snowing that day. When I was walking around the exhibits, the only people I saw were a few zookeepers, driving around in pickups.

It was pretty surreal. For one, snow, everywhere. Fresh, pristine snow, with no slush.

Two, no 'zoo-smell'. The fact that the temperatures were below zero probably had something to do with that.

And best of all, no crowds. It was a Saturday, and while I knew there were other people in the zoo (Mike and his classmates, at the very least) the only people I saw when I was walking around were a few zookeepers. A white, silent landscape around me; all I heard was snow crunching under my boots, and occasionally, the honking of geese as flocks flew by overhead.

I could very easily imagine I was walking in some Canadian nature park instead of a zoo.

Another reason I felt like I was in a nature park was because the exhibits, or at least the ones I decided to see, were pretty sparse and far apart. Unlike the Singapore zoo, the Toronto zoo could afford to sprawl out. In the first 15 mins, I had walked past the half-way point of the zoo and all I saw was a fast-food restaurant (coincidentally, the only eating place open during the winter season, with the exception of a snack bar near the ticket counter). I walked for another 15 mins before I saw a couple of cougars. They seemed pretty bored; it seemed like they heard me coming because they came out some warm shelter to stare at me when I walked past their cage, and went back in only after I walked away.

In other words, I spent a lot more time walking than I did on animal sightings. Moreover, with the sub-zero temperatures and falling snow, many of the animals were hiding. Getting closer to see the animals --that is walking off the main path and right up to the cage-- involved some tramping through knee high snow.

It was all rather fun.

The zoo is divided into several domains, based on geographical regions. I figured that the animals that came from a warm climate were probably kept indoors in winter, or they would not be active, so that ruled out the African and Indo-Malaya exhibits (probably two of the largest exhibits). I also figured that since I'm in Canada, I should go and see their local specialties.

So I went to the Canadian domain. There were only *nine* exhibits. I was pretty surprised; shouldn't Canada have more animal species? But then, I realized why. People go to the zoo to see 'exotic' animals. This is Canada, not Singapore. So if the zoo makes a decision not to keep animals that could be found in someone's backyard... no wonder the Canadian domain is the smallest. And the furthest away from everything, beyond a steep incline with a sign that recommended that wheelchairs and strollers should not go beyond that hill because it was so steep.

So there were nine exhibits. And not all nine were open. I recalled seeing the bald eagles, the arctic wolves and the bison. Not sure what happened to the rest. The eagles, well, it's hard to look majestic in a cage. The wolves, a pack of seven, were pretty active, pacing around their enclosure and looking right at home in the snow. That was probably my favorite exhibit. The bison were kept in a very large field; squinting, I could make out one bison and maybe a hundred geese (not sure if they were the zoo's or just visiting migratory birds). According to the signboard, the zoo has a herd of 73 bison. It must have been a very, very large field.

By then, it was 11:30am. I had spent an hour and half walking around in the cold and saw about five exhibits. I even got lost because a snow-covered service road looks just like a snow-covered walking path. I walked back to the fast-food place, noticing that there were two sets of footprints along the path to the Canadian doman; mine, on the way there, and also mine, on the way back.

I had lunch, and then met Mike and some of his classmates when they were done with class and needed food too. After their lunch, class was considered over and I followed Mike and a few of his classmates to the African Rainforest Pavilion.

Below are some of Mike's photos.

A photo of his class. This was the wintry landscape of the zoo I had been attempting to describe, though a picture presents a far more immediate image.

Like I said, geese *everywhere*.

What most of the animals were doing.

Despite coming from a tropical climate, these Malayan tigers seemed to be all right. In another exhibit, some monkeys were all huddled around the heater...

One of the biggest and well-kept enclosures.

Another spacious and well-kept enclosure. I found it interesting that the big apes are housed in the best enclosures and given stimulating toys, while other animals were not. I think it has to do with their entertainment value; people like to look at big, impressive animals, and of the various biggish animals, the big apes are the most active.

Speaking of which, when we were at the orangutan exhibit, Gabriel, an ex-Singaporean who now resides in Canada, said suddenly, "Did you know? Ah Meng died yesterday."