Zoo Animals on Pitara Kids Network

The Great Escape

Mon, 23 Sep 2002 21:19:40 +0000

On the outskirts of a bustling city near the sea coast was a zoo named Kananvan. It was famous all over the world for its magnificent white tigers, exotic birds and several other rare species.

However, there was one special quality that made the zoo different and about which no human knew. The animals of Kananvan practiced a democracy that is quite rare even in the so-called civilised world. A democracy in a zoo? I’ll explain.

Gappu – The Brave

Sat, 13 Sep 1997 13:35:52 +0000

In a busy town in south India was a zoo. In it lived a hippopotamus whose name was Gappu. Gappu was a kind and gentle creature who loved children. However the children always made fun of him and this made him very sad. “See how ugly that creature is.”

“Yes, it has such a thick, oily skin and such a horrible face.”

“Isn’t it slow, fat and stupid looking?” The kids would yell to each other making faces at poor Gappu. The hippopotamus would listen to all this and shed silent tears.

Animal Sense

Sat, 22 Feb 2003 16:47:42 +0000

February 14: So you live in a quake-prone region and want to be prepared the next time an earthquake strikes. Unfortunately, science has still not come up with a way to predict earthquakes. But there’s hope yet. Just visit your local zoo and observe the behaviour of the animals there.

Astonishing but true. Animals remain even today, the best bet of alerting humans to an impending natural disaster.

Animal Sense [Illustration by Shinod AP]

Curious to know why? Animals, birds and snakes possess a sixth sense, claim animal behaviour experts. The indefinable ability to sense the presence of a natural disaster lurking in the background. Innumerable disaster films have used the theme of the family pet sensing the approach of something terrible, like a typhoon or volcano, and trying to alert the humans to it.

The Girl who Squeezed a Peacock

Sat, 11 Aug 2001 03:17:10 +0000

Last year, a strange thing happened at a zoo in Beijing, China’s capital. When the day started, no one had any idea of what would happen some time later. As usual, there were many visitors to the zoo, especially children.

All of a sudden, a six-year-old girl caught hold of a peacock and squeezed it hard. She said she would free the bird only if her mother agreed to buy a Barbie doll for her. Her mother, who wanted the bird to remain alive, said yes. A Chinese journalist called Wen Chihua wrote about this in a newspaper called Terra Viva.