Yesterday afternoon I had a meeting with a prof at the Alipore campus of the University of Calcutta... and when I got there, I saw that the Alipore zoo was right across the street. So of course, I had to wander around it after my meeting.
Admission was 10 rupees (20 cents). The grounds were fairly well maintained and more or less free of trash. Not according to Western standards though. I was there in the evening, after the heat of the day, and it was a really lively place. In between the animal houses and cages there were lots of open grassy areas and gardens. So it was definitely a family picnic destination... lots of boys kicking around soccer balls. My estimate is that it was a lower-middle class crowd.
And there were lots of couples. Interestingly, it was the first time I have seen public displays of affection in India... all the more striking because of the particular crowd of people. Since the grounds were sprawling, with lots of little nooks and corners shaded by trees, it was the perfect place to have a romantic little escape.
The only thing is... seeing the animals was actually kind of hard. The zoo definitely made an effort not to keep everything in too-small cages. The lion had a big grassy, tree-filled island with a huge moat around it (I didn't actually see the lion). The giraffes had a smallish compound to walk around in addition to their house. Almost all the birds were in large cages and that was pretty sad... no where to fly. But the worst were definitely the chimps and monkeys. Between the 96% genome similarity with humans; their ability to use tools and learn language; and their complex social structures and emotional range... well, I guess having that background knowledge on chimps made it much harder to see them in small cages. The same went for other monkeys.
I don't know, I know that I care more about animal rights than a lot of people I know. A few months ago, I read Peter Singer's Animal Liberation and mostly agreed with it... main point was that humans have a moral imperative to not cause extended animal suffering. (and that doesn't necessarily mean that we shouldn't eat them). Anyhow. Obviously this blog is not about animal rights... but it was certainly an interesting experience to care so much about these animals at the Alipore Zoo while I am in a city where human suffering confronts me at every turn.
Zoo pics here.