"Tails" from our Local Zoo

On Thursday morning we took Zeina to visit our local zoo here in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. It was not like ANY zoo that I have visited in the world!

At the entrance to the facility I noticed several families carrying large grocery sacks full of bananas and oranges. My first thought was that the family was planning a picnic lunch. That was not the case. When we made it to the area showcasing the monkeys I learned what the fruit was for. You can FEED the animals in our zoo! And, the folks running the zoo actively encourage it.

All of the children and adults were enjoying giving food to the monkeys. Wow! Zeina thought it was GREAT! In the duck area, families were sharing vegetables and Arabic bread with their feathered friends.

As we were gazing at the ostrich I looked over and a goat was standing beside me. And, there were five other goats running around the zoo -- they had escaped from their habitat and were touring around the facility. I guess they wanted to stretch their legs!