A Zoology Lesson

Freda Irvine

We had a day out at the zoo. So what you will be thinking. But this was different - it was in North East India where we were visiting our friends in Guwhati, Assam. Feeling ambivalent about the very existence of zoos, I only let myself be persuaded because my husband was keen. But I'd forgotten the Hindu respect for life. The zoo was a good one, spacious and well managed, attached to botanic gardens which blazing with exotic plants.

It was to be a day of surprises. The first surprise was the entry fee of 2p. Then, when my camera was checked with the friendly politeness so typical of the Indian, we were informed that we had just missed the elephant ride. I didn't know whether the ride was included in the 2p fee, or whether we would have to cough up another 2p! But it's not true that what you don't have, you don't miss. Now that I knew it was possible, I would have loved that elephant ride.

Since it was not to be, we headed for the hippopotamus, which stubbornly submerged itself in mud. All right, we thought, see if we care. We'll try the one-horned rhinoceros instead. But he was in a mood of non co-operation too. In fact - he was bent on making sure we could not photograph his famous horn, but he did present his enormous backside. In spite of trotting right round his huge enclosure several times, we managed only a fuzzy side-on view of the horn.

The monkeys were much more accessible, because they are not kept in cages and simply wander freely around. They decided to accompany us at a distance - until, that is, we reached the big cats. Then they quietly deserted us.

The cats were a surprise too - they weren't all big. There was a species of wildcat, no bigger than our domestic cats, but which, astonishingly had the markings of a much larger relative - it was the perfect miniature of a leopard.

It was not happy about having its picture taken either.

Then we saw the white tiger. Beautiful and powerful, he was dining on hunks of dripping red meat, and did not care whether he was on camera or not. Fascinating as he was, I was becoming aware that he was not the main attraction - we were. The other visitors were watching us watching the tiger. Obviously this pale Scottish species was a greater novelty than the white tiger in Assam. Polite and friendly as the Indians are, I was suddenly very conscious of being different, or, as one curious but very sweet little girl put it, all pretty and pink.

Walking through the lush, cool avenue towards the exit, I joked that the zoo and I could make a fortune exhibiting us. We could hang about with our primate cousins, the monkeys. And I'd be much more co-operative with photographers than some of the present inhabitants.

But, as I said, it was a day of surprises, and it wasn't over yet. Just at that moment the gates opened and a busload of schoolchildren burst through - then stopped in their noisy tracks and stared. They had seen us of course, and could not believe it. Then they were all over us, desperate to pose for photos with us, and look at our eyes. They had never seen Europeans before, and were fascinated by blue eyes.

And did their teachers call them off? Not at all. They were just as keen to have us on pictorial record - or was it to add to their zoological data? They did stop long enough to shake hands and make polite enquiries first.

At least taking their photographs was no problem. They were all delighted to oblige, although the youngsters suddenly became shy about practising their English. The group was making a school trip from Nagaland, which meant that they were hundreds of miles from home. Our first impression was that they looked more Tibetan than Indian. Sadly we could not get a visa to visit their homeland because it is considered too dangerous for Europeans which is why none of them, their English teachers included, had ever seen people who looked like us.

So it won't be pictures of white tigers that they'll be flashing around to impress their friends at home, but an altogether different white species that they encountered, so very appropriately, at the zoo.

It seems it was a day of surprises all round - and for us a very charming one.