Mysore Zoo

My recent visit to Mysore Zoo was as unplanned as the visit to Mysore itself. I had planned to spend my weekend in Bangalore and ended up traveling to Mysore instead!

So, after wandering the streets all evening, the next morning we headed to the Zoo. We were welcomed by none other than the giraffes -- I don't remember seeing another giraffe so close - so tall and huge!

May be, that raised the expectations - seeing those huge animals wandering around in that enclosed space - so close I began to wonder if they could reach out and bite!

And then, there were all the birds in enclosures so small, you feel sorry for them. Especially, it was quite a pathetic sight to see the bigger birds in such small enclosures. And, then, we came upon a peacock, showing off his feathers - though behind a fine mesh. I could think of nothing other than beauty behind bars!

There were so many birds - I only wish they were in larger enclosures and not-so-fine mesh cages!

Just as we were walking along the tiger's enclosure, we came upon
a large group of travelers. Well, there was some political conference in Mysore and a lot of people had come from other states. This group, I presume, was one of those groups come for the conference - with the tell-tale white-n-white of political parties, they stood out wherever they went. Among them, were these two men with big turbans. I couldn't resist a couple of pictures of them. They went together all the time, pointing at animals, talking to each other, watching the crowd. I wonder if they were aware of the fact that they were turning quite a few heads!

There was this gorilla which was showing off - was seated on a tree like he owns the place, watching over the rest and was yawning every few minutes! And, there was the contemplative Rhino hiding away all that strength and looking like one of the docile creatures you'd ever see.

After the usual fare of zebras, deers, and baboons, we were heading towards the elephants. There were a lot of school children walking around with drawing boards and color pens. When one of those kids came and asked where the elephants are, we guessed there must be some competition out there. So, we also headed off towards the elephants. Along the way, we came across this very noisy tree - now, the tree wasn't noisy; just that, we had to walk a li'l further and get to the other side to see the bats on the tree.

There were quite a few elephants out there - frolicking in the open space. Of all animals, they seemed to have the most freedom. In fact, you could walk into the enclosure -if you could ignore the 'Do not cross this point' board placed there. While elephants were wandering about, this side of the fence, children were immersed in their paintings.

After spending a li'l longer, watching the elephants, it was time to get back. On our way back, we came across another enclosure full of baboons - one naughty little one was so active, we just stood there watching him play :)

And, that was the morning at the zoo! Well, in some instances, I thought the Hyderabad Zoo a lot better - more space for the animals, not very far from our viewpoints, well maintained. My gripes about the Hyd Zoo remains though! How can I forget the way people behaved - growling and barking at the animals!!! Well, that is another story... another day...

For more pictures of my visit, visit my album