The First Zoo

“Mr. Owl. Mr. Wise Ol’ Owl. My mother says that you can tell me about the first zoo.”

“And that I can. Where do you want me to start?”

“At the beginning, of course.”

“Very well and what a fine cow you must be.

“Several thousand years ago, a man with was sent forth to build a wooden boat, gather up his family and two of every animal in the world. It was a massive undertaking, hampered all of the way with ridicule from most of his human counterparts. Finally after many years of construction and gathering the rains came.

“It rained for forty days and forty nights, my boy. The rain came down in large buckets. It flooded the rivers and streams and the oceans couldn’t hold the excess water. There were great floods, but Noah and his Ark were ready for the rising water. His boat, his family and all of those animals were sailing on what would now be called our earth. One hundred and twenty days later, Noah sent a bird out looking for some sign of land and when it came back there was an olive branch in its beak.

“Obviously there was much joy and happiness on this wooden boat. Everyone and everything was a happy as could be. They soon found a place to land the boat. The animals were unloaded in pairs; first it was the mighty lion and the lioness. When their mighty paws were firmly planted on the new land they jumped up and down, rolled around, and roared. The roar was a signal for the rest of the animals to come of the boat in an orderly fashion. No one really knows what animals were next to come off, but they also came off in pairs.

“This was probably the last time animals will get along together. For those few short months, animals got along with each other. They were friends, not apart of the food chain. Cows could rest safely near a tiger, or a mouse could share the same water dish with a cat.

“Noah took a lot of time finding the two of each animal. This was needed to preserve so many types of animals. I believe that each animal in the world today can trace their roots back to those original ‘Adam and Eve’ of their species.”

“Wow, Mr. Owl that was very interesting and exciting!

“Mr. Owl, can you tell me what the zookeeper is going to do with that hairbrush? Because it looks to me like he is going to try to groom the orangutan while he is sitting in that tire swing.”