Seoul Children's Park (Not for the Faint of Heart)

Today I rode with the morning teachers to the Seoul Children's Park. Have you ever seen a depressed meerkat? Rather than spend a great deal of time at the zoo or enjoying the park, most of the trip was spent taking pictures of the children appearing to enjoy the park - or at least coming into contact with the park.



The first thing we did upon arrival is go through a long rotation of taking photos of classes and individual students at the fountain just inside the entrance. Eventually we got to the zoo but went nowhere near the camels, even though they looked marginally interesting (particularly in comparison to the groups of old men scattered around doing nothing). We passed two miserable, unwashed wallabies that were clinging to what little shade there was in their pen. Then we passed a seemingly empty exhibit[1] followed by one containing a meerkat flopped on a pile of sand, forlornly staring at his audience while his one and only friend tried to dig its way to China.



There was what looked like a bumper car arena that was actually full of dogs, most of whom were too hot to move. Some were confined into a tiny space between two fences. Few were puppy-like. Most were spread out trying to stay cool and their caretaker showed marginal interest in her wards.


There were three pigs, five to seven goats, and one sheep all in a pen the size of a living room with no shade. The monkeys[2] were also fairly inactive and the lone elephant was tucked into the painted concrete structure. It looked like it was leaning its forehead against the wall...the way you might if you had given up on life.



I think that the state of the animals at the park's zoo generally speaks to the way animals are treated here. The dogs here are usually the purse-sized kind and they are more like Barbie dolls than living things. You'll see them with dyed fur or wearing full ensembles, even in the summer, which is cruel. Even some of the children were telling others not to pet the dogs at the zoo because they were "dirty". There seem to be no regulations on the sale of animals: bunnies are sold on the side of the road and I have seen piles of chicken cages balanced on top of aquariums full of puppies and small boxes full of hamsters.

[1]Possible suicide.

[2]Look closely at the top of the woeful monkey picture. Is that the Monkey Escape Hotline?