CHISTY RAHIM from Dhaka:
The entrance ticket of the national zoo of Bangladesh costs only tk.10/entrants. So that explained why the zoo was quiet crowded when I paid it a visit last Wednesday. It was rousing to see so many people paying a visit at the national zoo though, but then again, when you take a look at the animals; you feel pity.
The first caged animal you see when you enter the zoo are the deer on your left. Then it’s a along walk onward and at the other end is a map which shows the locations of the different cages. Beside it is a big board that said, “Don’t feed the animals” which was hardly noticed by any of the visitors who enthusiastically through whatever they had in their hands or could find at the ground and feed it to the monkeys.
Well it’s actually worse than that. And I don’t really know where to start from. Basically, the animals are suffering. They are kept in huge cages with concrete floors and metal nets; completely out of their natural habitat, except for the deer which requires a vast and open field to run about and grass underneath, they are well provided. But my sympathy mainly goes to the majestic Royal Bengal Tigers. The cages are big but extremely smelly. The construction of the cage is definitely not how its supposed to be and it wouldn’t take much for some idiot to get seriously hurt while trying to get a closer look at the magnificent beast and to make it more imaginable, the cages are so close to the spectators that they can practically poke the tigers with their fingers if they dared to.
Another disappointment for me was watching the snakes slither in pain inside their so-called-home. I have never seen snakes in real life before, so I thought of that moment to be a chance to take a glimpse. But the tainted black and translucent glass they were kept in, and the metal net in front as well as the lack of proper lighting made it hardly visible. I tried my best to squeeze in through the crowd and managed to get some quick peeps. What was more fascinating there was the crowd pulling and pushing each other around the snake cage and sticking there for quiet a long time searching for the slithering creature and fighting for the closest spot. I was later assured by a friend that it wasn’t always like this in here.
The animals there could live in better conditions. But that would require more money. But if the governments planning to do anything about it, they should do it fast! Most importantly, with a better zoo, we can attract more tourists as we have our own and unique Bengal tiger in captivity.
Article by: CHISTY RAHIM
PHOTOS: CHISTY RAHIM
