A small local zoo, run by the state of Hawaii. A rainforest zoo just outside of Hilo. A recommendation by one of the staff at Kings Land, and Tom loves zoos. So. Did I mention small? Well, yes. We followed the trail because we didn’t find a map when we were coming in. The trail led us to the pygmy goat. Then as we walked, seeking shade a peacock jumped up and landed on the wall, stopped, posing. Well, at least it seemed that way. After the peacock we went looking in cages, in many we couldn’t find an animal, but where we did we stopped and took pictures. The Turkey Vulture spread his wings when I pulled up the camera, like he, maybe she? knew what was going on.
We saw some cockatoos, macaws and sloths, but the fencing was too dense to get a good picture. A couple of red skinned iguanas lying on top of each other and every where there were chickens. Two roosters were fighting beside the cage of a beautiful crested bird, but the ID sign was damaged. Then as we were about to leave, a woman walked by and said, “They can’t bring him out because he hurt his leg, but they are going to feed him now, that’s where we’re all going.” We had no idea who hurt his leg, and who was going to be fed, but we trucked along with the group. And we came to the cage of a beautiful white tiger, injured, but still up to eating two whole chickens and a couple of pounds of ground beef. Not a good picture, but he was more interested in his food than us, thank goodness I guess.
Finally we left so the little kids could get in there and see. And, by someone’s unfortunate planning, the animals next to the tiger were donkeys. And, although they too were calmly eating the grass you have to wonder, when they hear the tiger prowl and sometimes roar, do they think, “who was that stupid human who put us here?”
But my favorite in the whole zoo was a sign on a tree along the path.