Several busloads of pupils, roused and stirred inside their yellow school buses were heard shouting from Quirino to Harrison as their vehicles entered the zoo's parking lot one after the other.
It was more than 15 years ago when it happened. It was a school field trip and I remember being one of the pupils who screamed on top of my falsetto voice to express my excitement after I found out that our next destination will be Manila Zoo.
Aside from the elephants flapping its large ears and whipping its hide with the hay it usually eats; the giraffes with its long tongue, long legs and its habit of picking hats from the visitor's heads; and the large pythons encased in a large glass aquarium as the spectators waited forever for the reptiles to snap at the doomed mouse or chick moving wearily on the other side of the exhibition glass, other scenes inside the zoo has faded away as I grew more distant from the memory of being there in the first place.
As I grew older and gained more freedom to roam the city, I even pass by the zoo whenever my feet would take me to Pasay or Cultural Center. But the thrill of going back and visiting the animals has already outgrown my inner childhood.
I would rather explore other places of wilderness instead.
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Thirty minutes before my shift ended yesterday. Dodong sent me a text message asking if I'm available later that afternoon. I told him that I'm going to the gym. Nevertheless, I asked him the reason why he inquired about availability. He told me that he plans to go to Manila Zoo to take some pictures for his next photo collection.
He was asking if I am interested to join.
Seizing the opportunity to bond with my brOdder and return to that ancient place of my childhood. I accepted his invitation.
I ditched going to the gym to rekindle a juvenile memory still residing inside my head.
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Me and Dodong were completely enchanted the moment we entered the zoo.
From the tone of his voice, I can sense that Dodong's giggles and his constant utterance of the word "scary" were from his long lost childhood, repressed from living an adult life. His eyes glowed as he watched the animals - the elephant and the zebra in particular frolic in the presence of curious visitors.
As I observed the animals, apparently aware that they are being watched and observed by human strangers, it felt like their whole existence were meant to provide entertainment and education to people who had never watched Discovery Channel or Animal Planet before. They were caged, dependent on zookeepers for food and well-being, snatched away from their habitat which they would never see again.
For paying forty bucks, what I saw actually was imprisonment. However, despite such gloomy perspective I tried my best to enjoy the sights and commune with my remaining childhood innocence before it would be taken away by life's sophistications.
These are the sights that I saw inside the zoo.
The truth is, what saddened me was the fact that the animals were being neglected. If they received any attention at all, it must have been extremely minimal to the point that it would appall global zoo standards.
The stink from their excrements got stuck in our shirts. I would tell Dodong later after his photoshoot that we smelled like the animals in the zoo. Some of the cages were very small that it wonders me how those animals could consider it a habitat at all.
Finally some of the animals were so old, I felt that they would just expire anytime soon. The lone Orangutan, which is prized by the zoo but considered by conservationists to be on the verge of extinction spent the remainder of her solitary and lonely life amusing visitors with her kissable lips protruding outside her cage.
I hate to admit it, but the more I get exposed to these creatures, the more I felt that they were being used not to educate but merely, to provide cheap entertainment for the mostly unaware visitors.
We left at past 6 pm after spending some time with the animals for two hours. After paying an extra forty pesos to enter the "kindergarten zoo," we were given the opportunity to have our photos taken while the animals were either perched, or their slender bodies wrapped around our shoulders. We had fun, I admit that. But knowing that those animals were being exploited (i wonder how it feels like for the turtle to be seated upon every time a visitor would like to take his picture with the creature), I felt guilty that I have become a part of the freak show.
In the end, I did have fun.
I enjoyed the trip because I saw Dodong's inner childhood slowly being revealed to me.
I enjoyed because nostalgia crept in and made me appreciate how life was better when I was just a kid.
And I did enjoy the trip because despite my age, I still had an "educational field trip" worth blogging.
I learned that it would be better for us humans to leave the wild animals alone, especially if we are not capable of providing them with an artificial environment close to the habitat where we took them from.
I think the city government of Manila should provide more funds for the maintenance of such place. I heard in the news several months ago that the vice-mayor is interested in converting the place to a PBA Stadium. The horror.
Despite the bad publicity I wrote about Manila Zoo, I still encourage people - especially the kids to visit the place. It might stinky and humid out there, but who said the wild has the pleasant smell of Trinoma?
With the aging animals still locked up inside their cages, I suspect that it would be just a matter of time before their passing would come. After all, they spent all their lives providing us with "infotainment" long before the knowledge channels started airing on our cable television.
As I stared at the Orangutan, its hands and feet grasping the thick iron bars that separates the creature from the spectators, its sagging breasts and wheezing cough revealing her very advanced age.
Knowing that she's among the last of her kind, I could almost hear her say,
Find us before its too late. See me before I'm gone forever.
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