Chausuyama Zoo's brochure and notepads that the zookeeper gave us.
長野市の篠ノ井地域に茶臼山動物園があります。割りと広い動物園でキリンさんに餌をやる体験などの特徴がある。斜面の位置から善光寺平や菅平の山々が見れて、素晴らしい眺めもある。そして、代表の動物はレッサーパンダ。茶臼山動物園は子供連れの家族やカップルさんたちに人気スポットです。
実は、去年はレッサーパンダ達の「レッサーパンダ森」という新しいホームが出来ました。さらに近く見れるし、実際な木を登ったりする自然な風景になっています。
この頃はテレビで東北関東地震の辛いニュースばかり。気分転化を兼ねて、今朝はお客さん達を送ってから娘と二人でミサに行ってそして茶臼山動物園に行きました。ライオンさんの怖い存在、キリンさんの感動的な背の高さ、ウランウータンのひょうきんな表情、とにかく楽しい一日でした。
単純に楽しい一日。
キリンさんやゾウさんの顔を見る限りで、地震の心配はなさそうでした。帰る時に、偶然で園長の方と会って、地震の話が出ました。「動物に影響は？」と聞いたら、チンパンジーとウランウータンだけだと。チンパンジーはイライラし、ケージの中で走り出した;ウランウータンは頭にブランケットをかぶったそうです。やはり、人間にいちばん近い動物には自信がつらかったんだ。
Located in Nagano City's Shinonoi district, Chausuyama Zoo is a popular spot for families with kids as well as couples. It's a fairly large zoo and features such unique things to experience as giraffe-feeding. Its location on a hill above the city provides a fantastic view of the valley below as well as the Sugadaira mountains in the distance. And Chausuyama Zoo has some celebrity animals -- the lesser pandas.
In fact, last year the lesser pandas moved into a much more expanded home. Now you can see them up close and they have real trees they can climb.
The last couple of days, there has been nothing but distressing news on TV about the M7.9 earthquake in northeastern Japan. I was in the need for a change of pace, so after seeing off our guests this morning, I took our daughter to go to mass, followed by a trip to the Chausuyama zoo. We were awed by the height of the giraffes, cowered by the imposing presence of the lion, and bemused by the funny faces of the orangutans. It was an enjoyable afternoon.
A simple enjoyable afternoon.
Gazing into the faces of the giraffes and elephant, there was no trace of worry over the earthquake. But on the way out, we ran into the head zookeeper. I had to ask -- were the animals affected? He said the only ones were the chimpanzees and orangutans. The chimps got anxious and ran around their cages; the orangutans even put blankets over their heads. So the animals closest to us humans were traumatized.
茶臼山動物園のHPはこちらClick here for Chausuayama Zoo's website.
