Zoo you again

After decades, I found myself inside Manila Zoo once again.

Today, my Investigative Journalism class and I went to Manila Zoo to do field work and write an article about the current state of the zoo. So, while the students were interested in finding sources and resource people, I was just interested to see if the zoo is as bad as everyone says it is.

As I told Mark, I was expecting to see a decrepit zoo. When I got there, what I saw was an old and slightly dilapidated one. Not as decrepit as I thought.

The animals look like they're healthy and properly fed. Again, I was expecting to see gaunt animals who look like refugees. After all, there has been a lot of articles about how the animals there are starving. This includes the zoo's most famous - and controversial - resident, Mali the Elephant.

Aside from the usual mammals, the zoo had a lot of reptiles in captivity. Including these gigantor snakes and crocodiles! Thank goodness they were caged and asleep. They're uber creepy! (Although I touched the Albino Python that was on display outside.)

One thing that the reviews said that was very much true was the fact that the zoo was quite mucky. Despite the signs that peppered the property, people seemed to just throw stuff around. There were a lot of ice cream wrappers, (Magnum, natch!) snack packs and remnants of meals.

Some of the cages looked dirty, too. Take for instance the rabbit and hamster cages. No wonder these two rabbits looked bothered. Plus, their aquarium can use a little cleaning, too.

Overall, my impression of the zoo is that it really needs a lot of improvement, but it's not the hell hole that most people paint it to be. Honestly, it feels like the same zoo that I saw way back in Elementary School. And I don't mean that as a good thing.

That's just my opinion, though. I wonder what my Investigative Journalism class has to say?