At the zoo

We visited the Banham Zoo in the UK a few days ago, it was really great to go pet some goats and release some built up stress. We met some wonderful and strange animals and found joy in our short time in their company.

It is so hard to get these teenagers off their electronics, out of the house and into some fresh air. But surprisingly, the thought of seeing the animals energized them into movement and we had a great time finally doing something that everyone agreed upon.

We learned the sad facts about the life of the beautiful tiger cats.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were 100,000 tigers roaming in Eastern Europe and Asia. A century on and there are only 5,000 tigers left in the wild. A decrease of 95%.

Since the 1940's, three of the original eight sub-species, the Bali tiger, the Caspian tiger and the Javan tiger have become extinct. The remaining five sub-species, South China, Siberian, Sumatran, Indo-Chinese and Bengal tigers are under threat from human activity.

Sadly, the decline in tiger numbers is largely due to hunting, trapping and poisoning of individual tigers.

To ensure that the tiger lives on, steps must be taken NOW, to prevent illegal poaching and to preserve tiger habitats.

Breakdown of number of tigers left in the wild:

Bali tiger.................25 left in the wild

Siberian tiger...........400 left in the wild

Sumatran tiger.........450 left in the wild

Indio-Chinese tiger...1,500 left in the wild

Bengal tiger..............3,500 left in the wild

Bali tiger..................Extinct

Javan tiger...............Extinct

Caspian tiger............Extinct

Llama, llama, look at us. They paid us not an iota of attention, just kept on grazing on delicious grass.

The giraffe too, treated us like we didn't even exist, so disdainful were they, eating and avoiding eye contact. So rude, so we just did a video, took some pictures and moseyed on about our business.

The kangaroo ate whatever kangaroos were eating and the emu just kept making a weird honking sound, looking rather like a giant straw hat with spindly legs gone awry. So cute.

Although it was great to be with these exotic creatures and watch them strut their stuff, still there was a strange lethargy in the way they moved and observed the strange alien creatures that we were.

Maybe it was just me, as I do not believe in caging wild creatures which were made to run wild upon the shires, within the wilderness, forests and prairies of the wide-open expanse of nature.

I felt a bit sorry for their lying around in captivity. Animals should be viewed carefully and from afar on a safari or in bushes, not caged and be devoid of their nature to run wild and free.

Yet, maybe they are safer in the zoo, but if you ask me if I would rather be safe than free...I will always choose free.

I would love to see the tiger in its element, this territorial, solitary sensitive and possessive beautiful creature which is capable of great love, as it chases its food and glories in its kill.

Happily, two baby tigers played in the bushes, hiding from us the entire time. Maybe they will save their species after all.

There were some wolves that hid themselves away. A few bison and real owls later and we had done the round of the little zoo.

By the entrance a lovely fake own posed, eying us as we all walked by on our way out of the enjoyable Banham Zoo.

We breathed a silent thank you to the animals, for finally the human types admitted to actually enjoying themselves doing an outdoor activity and forgetting about social media.