Day 130: The Zoo

Yes, I went to the Berlin Zoo today. Before I get into that though, let me put up some pictures from around Potsdamer Platz and Unter den Linden last night after I'd already written my post for the day.

Now, about the zoo. I had absolutely no intention of going to a zoo today. I was planning to go check out Kurfurstendamm, which is one of the major shopping streets in the city and an area I hadn't been to yet. It was really warm out though, and when I came across the Berlin Zoo it looked awfully shady and inviting, so I decided to visit.

It has been a long time since I've gone to a zoo, and I have pretty mixed feelings about them. I think they are important for giving kids, and people in general a direct look at animals, so that instead of just being some fairy tale creature on television they are real, concrete things, and hopefully that interest in animals and exposure to them grows into a real care for the outside world and environment. On the other hand, watching some of the larger and more intelligent animals just trying to sleep surrounded by screaming kids trying to get their attention and construction projects going on next door, it's impossible not to feel sad for the fate of the animals as well. I just wish they could find a way that could keep animals accessible while allowing them more comfort and freedom, and allowing them to live in more natural groups instead of being stuck with a couple others of their species and constantly bombarded by noise and people. All that being said, it's still the only way I'll probably ever get to sit and watch things like large groups of primates socialize, so it isn't all bad.

The primate cages were by far the most interesting to me. There was one small female orangutan that carried a potato sack up their climbing-tree/pole, and hooked it unto a branch/peg, and crawled inside to use it as a hammock.

Yes, there is an actual orangutan inside that bag. I find the slow, deliberate movements of the larger primates so fascinating. They had a large group of maybe 30 smaller monkeys (macaques, perhaps?) that were much more energetic, and the young ones were constantly wrestling and tumbling down the rocks.

A lot of the bigger animals were just standing around or sleeping, but here's a selection of pictures.

The shopping street, in the end, wasn't terribly exciting so at least the zoo gave me something different to talk about! I'm hopefully meeting up with a person I met in Ireland for lunch tomorrow, then continuing on to Hamburg.