Ok, it's been far too long. I've been back from India since March 1st and I'm now just getting around to downloading pictures.On one of my last weekends in Hyderabad, I decided to see some new sights. I'd heard the Hyderabad Zoo was worth a visit, so I told my driver that we'd be going to the zoo over the weekend. He looked at me like I was a nut, but agreed to pick me up in the morning.
The zoo was supposed to be nearby, but like all things in India, it wasn't quite that easy. After about an hour in the car, we finally came upon a parking lot full of vendors, cars and people waiting in the ticket line. We went to check on prices and I quickly decided to splurge and pay for the right to drive my car into the zoo. Not into the parking lot, but literally INTO the zoo. Now it's not quite like Lion Country Safari, but you do get to drive around the exhibits and avoid some of the heat. I also liked the idea that I could escape into a car in the event an animal escaped from the cages.
I really only wanted to see one thing: the white tigers and their cubs who call the zoo home. The zoo has a pair of white tigers who had recently produced four white cubs. They weren't on display when we got there, but the zoo keeper quickly made arrangements (for a small fee) for me to go into the back of the cages and visit their home. The lovely tiger pictured above was the mom. She wasn't happy that I was there and made it known that if it was up to her, she'd feed me to her cubs. Always having a plan, I'd already scoped out the zoo keeper and knew I could easily outrun him. So I was safe for now.
Next stop was the little house where a few male tigers were snoozing away in their cages. The white tiger dad was napping and didn't seem fazed by my presence. The other tiger certainly did mind. The zoo keeper was also taunting the poor fellow, so I could see why he was annoyed. This fine fellow would have gladly ripped my arm off for a snack. Lucky for me I can still run and would have offered up the zoo keeper as a substitute.I know some people find the idea of a zoo to be cruel and all, but I can say that in India it's far better for these tigers to be here. They face an almost certain death at the hands of poachers in the wild. The poachers are feeding a never ending demand for such delicacies as Tiger Penis Soup from the booming Chinese mainland. Maybe they should just change the name of Viagra to Tiagra and tell them it's the same thing. Honestly, poaching and encroaching settlements are the two biggest threats facing both tigers and elephants in India today. Hopefully more people realize what amazing creatures they are and step up protections.
The rest of the day was spent looking at various birds and animals and also enjoying a home cooked meal. The meal was prepared by the wife of my driver. I was incredibly thankful for it, as they probably spent a good part of their food budget on me. It was a delicious combo of mutton and chicken curries, homemade dal and rice. We ate it standing at the back of the car while the locals passed by and stared at me. I'm sure they were laughing at seeing me eat curry and rice with my hand.
Here are a few more pictures to admire. The bear pictured here had a great dance move and was the world's most effective beggar. He just stood up and people threw him food. Of course you're not supposed to feed them, but nobody seemed to follow any of the posted signs.
This was my favorite sign in all of India. I thought "Wow, finally I can see something good!" Turned out to only be a wild ass, or jackass or donkey or something that looked kind of like a horse.
And lastly, my favorite site was this guy. He just stood there and put his trunk out to collect sweets from his adoring fans. I was waiting to see if he'd snatch one of the people and drag them off to his cave, but apparently this was a friendly Asian Elephant. Of course, elephants aren't hostile creatures by nature. But they have been known to get pissed off and bust up a village here and there. There was a story in the local paper about one such irate elephant. I forget his name, but basically he killed a number of villagers and was a general terror to the countryside. As to be expected, the government killed an elephant and said the problem was solved (never mind the fact that they killed the wrong elephant). Well then the elephant gang decided "Fuck that" and exacted their revenge. I'm not making this up. A herd of elephants then visited a nearby village and destroyed it. Yes, destroyed it out of revenge. And who says elephants aren't smart?
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