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to the Zoo!

the journal of Michael Werneburg

twenty-seven years and one million words

We took Kenny to the Toronto Zoo. He really enjoyed it, and he seems to have overcome his fear of large animals.

In particular, Kenny seemed interested in the elephant, the rhinos, the cheetah, and the tiger. One amusing moment came when, during our lunch of hamburgers, the usual crowd of herring gulls was making a din; a peacock in a tree above us belted out a loud silencing yell and we were able to get some peace.

I asked a couple of questions of the elephant keeper. She struck me as a deeply sad woman. Given the events there in the past few years, I can understand why. Having lost four elephants and then losing funding for the remaining three despite implementing drastic improvements in the health regimes must have been tough. I have to say, though, that I agree with the critics who charge that the one small enclosure doesn't seem like enough for a species that ranges hundreds of kilometres a year in the wild.

We considered buying a yearly pass to the place, as we've done with the ROM, but the need to spend 90 minute en route by TTC in both directions killed that idea. I count this as Kenny's fourth Zoo, because he's already been to the ones in Shanghai and Tokyo, and he went to a private Zoo-like place that had an amazing more-than-Zoo-grade panda exhibit. He's also been to new fewer than five aquariums (Shanghai, Yokohama, Shinagawa, Shinagawa/Epson, and Vancouver). The kid gets around. Well, he used to.