Zoo + School Farm

Today we went to the zoo and the school farm! We started at the zoo where we had an electric tram take us for a ride around the park. They took us behind the scenes in a few areas and we were able to see the holding areas for the Bengal tigers. Some of the orange Bengals were wild caught and not nearly as friendly as the ones I've seen in the past. They were growling as soon as we entered the room. I took a picture and left as soon as I could ( I was last in line) and as soon as I turned my back the tiger lunged at the gate and roared. Scared me a little but I was fine. The white tigers on the other hand were hand raised and rubbed against the cage wall like a house cat. We were allowed to view the lions from the roof of their enclosure and then we did a deer safari to see some of their native deer, sambar. We saw the vet clinic and they showed us some of their equipment. They then took us to see the elephants. We were expecting an exhibit, maybe see their holding area, but we were surprised when handlers came up with 2 elephant calves!! They were adorable and even got more adorable when one decided to untie my shoelaces. We took so many pictures of them, Dr. Subbiah had trouble pulling is away when we had to go.
It was time to leave the zoo, and we traveled to the vet school farm where they bred different animals for research and production. Lunch again was great. We even had ostrich and quail meat. After lunch we were given a fruit plate. I'm not sure how they eat so much here. We saw their sheep and goat stock including the Madras Red Sheep. Then we went to see the cattle from cows to water buffalo.
We also got to see the ostrich hatching facility where they incubated eggs. We also saw products they made from then like decorated egg shells and leather products like jackets, shoes, and bags. Then they took us to look at babies!! They ranged from 1-4 weeks and were absolutely adorable. Next we went on to the ~4 month old juveniles. They liked to peck at our clothes and arms and watches but, I mean when else will I get to be pecked by an ostrich? We didn't get near the adults because they can kick, and hard.
We finished up by see the pigs and found a banyan tree. They grow roots from the branches. Dr. Subbiah said they were strong enough to swing on earlier in the day. As everyone went on to see the pigs, Heidi and I tested it. Heidi swung just fine and I jumped on... and immediately fell flat on my ass. We looked around to see if anyone had saw but we were good. We caught up with the group and was waiting for someone so we headed back with Michael, found a better set of roots and successfully swung from the tree. We saw the pig facilities and headed home. Everyone was tired at the hostel and many jumped in the shower when we got back. Which was unfortunate when the power went out 10 minutes after getting back. It came back on shortly and everyone finished and we ate dinner and went to bed for another packed day tomorrow.
-7/23/15