When we had a break from class last Friday, Bailey and I decided to visit the Tianjin Zoo. We had read about the Zoo in our tourism guide and it seemed like it would be a really fun experience for animal lovers such as ourselves. According to the guide, the Tianjin Zoo is one of the top seven Zoos in China. It is home to over 3,000 animals and 200 different species. The book also mentioned that the Zoo holds many rare species of national first and second class protected animals, Giant Pandas, Red Pandas, African Lions, and a Polar Bear. After reading this summary, Bailey and I were extremely excited and couldn't wait to see what the Zoo had to offer.
Unfortunately, our experience at the Zoo did not measure up to our expectations. We weren't able to find many of the animals listed in the guide and we were displeased with the conditions that some of them were living in. These poor conditions were most apparent in the area that housed the hippos. When walking into the building, we saw two tanks of water that were extremely small and dirty. Each of these tiny tanks held two giant hippos struggling to share the space. From only a few brief moments in the building, you could tell that these animals were unhappy and uncomfortable. Although it was fun to see animals like the hippos, I wish that they would have been better taken care of.
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