One Day At The Zoo - Part 7.

Many people don't agree with zoos, don't like animals in captivity. I'm not a fan of locking them up and keeping them in captivity either but if there are decent conditions, I think it can be beneficial for us. Kids love to see animals from this close and besides, where else can they see these wild animals if not in the zoo, right?

The zoo I'm going to show you photos from is situated in the heart of Transylvania, in Targu Mures and it's the biggest of the country. It's a 40 hectare park plus the entertainment area outside the zoo, which offers a huge outdoor playground for kids and adults as there's an obstacle course as well. Running competitions are held here on a regular bases, plus the alley is full of street food, you can have traditional food and all the sweets you can imagine. The perfect place where to relax after a stressful week.

This crazy pandemic and the lockdown that came with it has been hard on all of us, on the zoo too as it has been closed for about two months. Borders are closed and has been closed all summer, so foreign tourism has been out of the question. However, domestic tourism had some advantages as people have chosen shorter trips around their hometown. This is why the zoo got a lot of visitors, even with all the restrictions that are going on.

The Train

As I said before, this place is much more than just a simple zoo, even though it's the biggest and the most beautiful of the country. One of the attractions you don't find elsewhere is the little train that has been the entertainment of kids for decades.

The locomotive is from the communist times, I believe it's the very first one with what it was launched and hasn't been upgraded ever since (judging by the look of it). The Thomas banners have been applied but that's all. The tracks go all across the park, throughout the woods without stopping anywhere. It's a 10 - 20 minute ride at a very low speed obviously, full of joy if you're a kid. Unfortunately due to the pandemic, the train has been parked inside the zoo and not functioning.

The Brown Bear

There are two areas for bears and this one you see on the photo is the biggest. I don't know how big it is exactly, according to their website in 2007 there were added another 5 hectares of land for bears and wolfs. This bear has half at least for sure.

At the time of our visit he (or she?) was walking up and down, looked like he wants to burn as much calories as possible. I understand it's not convenient for them to lay around all day as bears are carnivoran, wild animals, which means if they are not in captivity but in their natural habitat, they are travel miles and miles per day.

This one wasn't alone, there was another bear in this area but that one was too lazy, laying on the other end of the cage, too far for my camera.

I wish I knew the name of this wonderful white animal but I don't

Deer

Deer are always the entertainment point where most of the kids use to sit down and watch them for minutes, or feed them. Deer are calm animals, you don't have to be afraid of them I believe, unless you're on the other side of the fence. Feeding animals is strictly forbidden, but giving them grass you collect from the park is fine I guess, as that's what they eat usually.

This mom was teaching her kids how to feed the deer safely. Some may argue that there's no such thing as these animals can be unpredictable, which is true but nothing bad happened here.

Ten meters away there were the others, enjoying the shade of this old tree. I was there in the middle of August, it was very hot and many animals were taking refuge from the burning sun. Some under trees, others in their cage, so we could not see them at all. These two in the front had no problem with the weather, or the people staring at them and taking photos.

Bison

Deer and bison live together, they are sharing this space without any problem. However, they don't seem to mix or socialize. Deer in one corner, bison in the other and it has been like this forever. There are some rules in the animal world that must be respected, no matter if this is a zoo or natural habitat.

The biggest bison lived separately from the others, don't know why. Maybe it's a male and they didn't want them together.

Llamas and Goats

Llamas are from South America and not native to this country, so you can't find them freely anywhere. Goats however are native to the country, there are plenty in the mountains.

More goats resting next to their feeder, while Gina, the giraffe is having lunch. Gina is the only giraffe of the zoo and she needs to learn hospitality in the upcoming period as she has no idea how to greet visitors.

Gina The Giraffe

I was trying to take a good photo of Gina as she's quite new in this zoo and I love giraffes. There was a crowd in front of her home, everyone was trying to take a good photo of her but I bet not many could succeed. This was the only photo of her in this position, as most of the time she was shown us her rear end. Not cool Gina!!!

Ducks And Swans

There's a small pond next to the elephant house, where you can see ducks and swans, enjoying the cool water in a hot summer day.

I liked these wooden flower pots with small palms on the road. These are placed inside as soon as the weather permits it and taken inside when it gets cold. Romania's weather is not favorable for these exotic plants, these would not survive during the winter.

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Read my previous posts about the zoo:

• One Day At The Zoo - Part 6. - The Aquarium
• One Day At The Zoo - Part 5. - Food And The Surroundings
• One Day At The Zoo - Part 4. - Expectations vs Reality
• One Day At The Zoo - Part 3. - Education Matters
• One Day At The Zoo - Part 2.
• One Day At The Zoo - Part 1.

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