The Wild Animal Park

Yesterday we went to the Kunming Wild Animal Park. It was quite an experience. This is Jet Plane (that is his English name). He was our tour guide yesterday. I met him the very first week I was at school. He works for China Mobile, the largest cell phone company in the world. He was part of team marketing China Mobile services to incoming freshman. We were sitting at the same table in the Muslim cafeteria, which is less crowded. I said in bad Chinese, “Ni hui bu hui shuo Yingwen? (Do you speak English?)” He said, “Of course!” in English with a slight Australian accent. He is part of the Hui minority people, which are Muslim. My student Lemon is also Hui. He has called occasionally since, offering his tour guide and translation abilities to help us see the local sights. We finally were able to make it happen yesterday.

This is not the San Diego Zoo. I think the animals are a little hungrier here. In the lion and tiger enclosures, tourists can purchase hunks of meat tied to a bamboo fishing pole. You lower them down and the cats jump up and eat them! You can also purchase a live chicken to throw down…I’m not kidding.



Click for a larger view of this tiger if you are feeling brave.



American big cats don’t look at people quite like this… And as the lions roar back and forth it’s a little more unnerving, and much more exciting. The animals have a LOT more room to roam and look more comfortable in their environment than they do in our zoos.



We also saw a Panda. Bobbie wanted a picture taken with the panda, but it was pouring most of the time we were there so we didn’t get to do it.



It was a very fun day.