Dhaka Zoo

Zoos are one of those places that people tend to have strong opinions about. In my case, with all of my travels I've come to enjoy a great many zoos. Though I've been to a sad circus in Russia, I can't think of a truly bad zoo. I don't love seeing animals stuck in cages, but I also figure that if they are going to be there, folks might as well learn from them. Though I do avoid them in places like Kabul!

The Dhaka zoo was actually a surprising treat. It was very large and shaded with beautiful trees. It also had a beautiful lake that it was adjacent to.


Bengal tigers, native to Bangladesh, were a feature of the zoo. They are one of the most endangered wild cats so you don't find them often in zoos. Given that it is their national animal, there were several.


There were also several lions. One was going at it like the MGM intro! Very cool to see.

The zoo was also in the paper the morning we went because of a large shipment of animals from South Africa. Twenty-seven animals, include giraffes, zebras, and a variety of horned animals had arrived the day before. They were all looking quite well for having jet lag.

The zoo actually had the best hippo exhibit that I've ever seen. About the size of tennis courts it was very fresh and covered in nice greenery that the hippos looked quite at home in.

The varieties of monkeys were also doing quite well. A number of them had very small babies, maybe a week old, clutching to their mothers. Very sweet.

I think those are the highlights of the animals.

Of course the most observed creature at the zoo was none other than myself. I swear that people stared at me as if I were in a cage, or perhaps they were concerned at my escape! At the end of my visit I was sitting at the main gate waiting for the rest of the group. I had several folks asking for pictures, but I just couldn't humor them, feeling that I had to find some differentiation between myself and the animals.

Another funny, not so funny at the moment, story was trying to be kicked out of the zoo. Here I'd been sitting on a bench at the main gate for a whopping ten minutes when security came over to tell me that I'd been loitering for too long and I needed to move along. Now tell me, if you've paid to go to the zoo, is there anything wrong about using a bench to wait for others?!

My top picks on zoos not to miss would be Sydney & Honolulu!

Cheers,

Miel