Zoo's

Listened to Mr Zoo (in Sweden) Jonas Wahlström on the swedish radio show "Sommar" the other day.
It was very entertaining, I saw a lot of me in him when he kept telling stories on how he got into arguments with officials etc.

Like when he imported an octopus for the zoo and was going to pick it up at midnight at the international cargo terminal at Arlanda airport.
Octopus is called ink-fish in swedish. But it´s actually a mollusk (blötdjur) so you don´t have to declare it as a fish.
The customs guy got all hyped on keeping the "ink-fish" since
Jonas didn´t have the paperwork for the fish..
So to settle it, the customs guy got a phonebook and called the "fish/animal specialist".
And this was at midnight!
A woman answers the phone and tells the customs guy that the person
he´s looking for is at the airport to pick up an octopus.. hehe. Love it.

He kept on talking about how great the zoo´s are in parts of America, Europe and especially in Sweden. Their importance etc..

Then today I got this picture sent to me on ichat:

It´s a pic of people throwing a goat into the lions for entertainment.. hmmm.

Here´s the article of the zoo in China.
And here are some excerpts from the article:

- "Oohs" and "aahs" filled the air as the children watched the goat being ripped limb from limb. Some started to clap silently with a look of wonder in their eyes.

- The zoo also encourages visitors to "fish" for lions using live chickens as bait. For just £2, giggling visitors tie terrified chickens onto bamboo rods and dangle them in front of the lions.

- Visitors can take part in China's latest craze ? tortoise baiting.
Simply put, Chinese families now gather in zoos to hurl coins at tortoises.
When giggling tourists begin hurling coins at them, they desperately try to protect themselves by withdrawing into their shells.
But Chinese zoo keepers have discovered a way round this: they wrap elastic bands around the animals' necks to stop them retracting their heads.

- Astonishingly, the zoo also sells tiger meat and wine produced from big cats kept in battery-style cages.

- Tiger meat is eaten widely in China and the wine, made from the crushed bones of the animals, is a popular drink.

Although it is illegal, the zoo is quite open about its activities. In fact, it boasts of having 140 dead tigers in freezers ready for the plate.

Here´s a video (if you want to see lion fishing with chickens) from youtube.
And here´s another one.


It´s completely normal for lions to eat other animals obviously, but why are people paying money to witness this? It´s so wrong, in so many ways.


Here are some LA pics I just got from H-Man:





Peas