“Animals are born who they are, accept it, and that is that. They live with greater peace than people do.” ― Gregory Maguire
Zoos are the place I really like to visit when I travel to another countries or cities because I love to see animal activity and some of the zoo provides strange animals I have never seen. This time, Sam and I decided to go to Dusit zoo according to my animal peeves. I worried at the beginning because zoos in Australia have very high standard and cleanness. I didn't know how Dusit zoo gonna be as I have not visit this zoo for forever. After finished our breakfast, we headed straight to our destination. It was not take more than an hour to reach the place. From our hotel, Tawanna Hotel, we took BTS to go to Victory Monument station then we took a bus number 515 and then dropped off at Dusit zoo bus stop. The entrance fee was not pricey like all zoos in Western world or Australia, only $3 for Thai and $5 for tourist. See? not bad!
I could not remember how many kinds of animal in the zoo but it is a lot I can tell you that. We went to the left side route first and we saw Red-Shanked Douc. I was so sure Sam never see this animal before. The way he fascinated by this creature made me giggled a bit. In Australia, most of animals has grey colour so this was a big wide eyes open for him. Red-Shanked Douc is in endangered as this species is believed to have undergone a decline of more than 50% in the last three generations (30–36 years, based on a generation length of 10–12 years), due to forest loss and hunting, and the decline is predicted to continue at the same rate or slightly higher in the next 30–36 years.
The next interesting animal is Malayan Sun Bear. Can you believe that it is in Southeast Asia! It is smaller that grizzly bear for sure because this is a smallest bear in the world! Named for the golden crescent, or “U” shaped golden patch on their chest. Malayan Sun Bears are otherwise all black with smooth, short fur. They are increasingly rare residents of tropical rainforests in southern China, Burma, Malaysia, Sumatra, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Borneo.
After that bear, I asked Sam what was his opinion about the zoo so far. He said "it's better than I thought. Before I came I expected some of the animals won't treat well but wow! they look well and healthy." Big relieve for me, to be honest.
Have you ever seen animal similar to anteater? Well, there is one animal in Dusit zoo called tapir. It looks something like pigs with trunks, but they are actually related to horses and rhinoceroses. This eclectic lineage is an ancient one—and so is the tapir itself. Scientists believe that these animals have changed little over tens of millions of years. Alright, now I gonna show you my favourite bird in the entire zoo. It is Nicobar Pigeon. OMG I cannot explain how gorgeous this bird is. Most sites said it is one of the more beautiful species among the pigeons and doves!
I am a big fan of koalas. The first time I saw koalas was when I visited Sam in Perth, Australia. He took me to Perth zoo because he knew I love animal. Because of the distance between me and the koala cage, I could not really enjoy it. However, Sam was generous enough to take me to Caversham Wildlife Park. In the park, they allowed me to gently touch the koalas with my back hands. Awww their fur are soooo freaking soft! It reminds me of Husky's fur. Anyway, my point is in Dusit zoo, there are koalas! YAY! but you are not allow to touch but that was ok. I mean I did not expect koalas in this zoo because I thought it would cost a lot to bring them here and the cage has to be specific due to koalas can't stand in heat. Anyhow, many kids were excited about it, me as well. Hence I took a few photo. Very lucky that the koala did not sleep since koalas often sleep for up to 18-20 hours each day.
One of the animal that Sam was excited to see was an elephant. To be honest, most of white people were excited to see elephants. Maybe because in Western world, elephants don't exist. Asian elephant is slightly smaller than its African cousin. Asian elephants can be identified by their smaller, rounded ears (An African elephant's ears resemble the continent of Africa). Elephant ears radiate heat to help keep these large animals cool, but sometimes that isn't enough. Elephants are fond of water and enjoy showering by sucking water into their trunks and spraying it all over themselves. An elephant's trunk is actually a long nose with many functions. It is used for smelling, breathing, trumpeting, drinking, and also for grabbing things—especially a potential meal. The trunk alone contains about 100,000 different muscles. Asian elephants have a fingerlike feature on the end of their trunk that they can use to grab small items (African elephants have two). Did you know elephants have ivory? Unfortunately their ivory has gotten them into a lot of trouble. Because ivory is so valuable to some humans, many elephants have been killed for their tusks. This trade is illegal today, but it has not been completely eliminated. The illegal ivory trade in Thailand is still occur even though Thai authorities have prohibited possession, trading, import and export of ivory and ivory products. Under Thai law, foreign visitors are advised not to purchase or take ivory (including their products) out of the country.
Alright! Let's move on to another creature. Is anybody here love colourful bird? Many, right? Budgerigars come in a wide variety of different colours including pure white, blue, yellow, mauve, olive and grey. The Budgerigar occurs naturally throughout much of mainland Australia, but is absent from the far south-west, the north of the Northern Territory, Tasmania and the majority of the east coast.
There are more animal for you to discover. We spent roughly around 3 hours in the zoo, not include lunch time. Like I said from the beginning, the entrance fee is $3 for Thai and $5 for tourist. It was totally worth it, in fact, the zoo can charge more! If you have a spare time left, don't forget to visit Dusit zoo and you will not disappoint it.
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