Green Girl Abroad: Ähtäri Zoo (Ähtärin eläinpuisto)

Our wonderful Finnish Language and Culture teacher, Helena, took us on an outing to the Ähtäri Zoo (Ähtärin eläinpuisto) for a fun lesson about animals in Northern Europe. I come from San Diego, which has a phenomenal Zoo and Wild Animal Park, but this was an interesting new experience to see a different array of wildlife native to colder climates.

The exchange students took a train to Ähtäri where Helena picked us up and drove us to the Zoo. Helena had given us an English to Finnish animal guide to study the week before and we revisited this page on the train. Valerie, who is full of hilariously good ideas, started making mnemonic devices out of the new words to help her remember the animals. By the time our train arrived, we had fuzzy Finnish friends like Kathy the Kettu (fox), Harvey the Hirvi (elk), Suzy the Susi (wolf), and Karhu breaks into your car for food (bear).

We started our tour with a list of questions about the various wildlife to ensure we were paying attention and learning during this field trip. Many of the animals are native to Finland or reside in northern habitats around neighboring countries. There were many large grazing and browsing species such as European Bison, elk, wild bighorn sheep, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and more. The antlers and horns these animals boast are pretty incredible. There were also predators like wolves, lynx, foxes, bears, wolverines and even a few snow leopards. The smaller animals, beavers, otters, owls, eagles and water birds were also interesting. I was a little sad that the reptile exhibit was closed at this time; I have a pet ball python at home who I miss very much.

Someone must have told the family of bears we were coming because they put on a small show for us when we arrived. They ran over to a rock near the observation area, standing on their hind legs, looking at us and playing on their carousel. It was highly entertaining and we watched for a while laughing. A neighboring bear climbed to the top of a pole to see over the wall and watch the commotion. Another funny part of the trip was watching a wolf trot around their enclosure with a large hunk of meat in its mouth, leading a parade of hungry wolves behind it. At the wolverine habitat a couple of them wrestled playfully while a third stashed food in secret hiding places for later. Apparently survival of the fittest still exists around the zoo animals. I have to say my favorite exhibit was the snow leopards. I’ve seen them on the show Planet Earth but they are extremely rare, I was surprised to see a mother and three cubs at the zoo. They are beautiful, impressive cats with bushy tails and coats that explain their endangered status.

After the zoo, we had a proper Finnish lesson at the campus in Tuomarniemi. We took the train back to Seinäjoki and stopped for a beer while waiting for the bus. There is nightly karaoke at this bar and Chase was the only one brave enough to put on a show. Though he’s no prodigy, Chase sang with unmatched spirit and gusto. The regulars loved him and we cheered him on admiringly. It was a very successful Monday before the exchange students scattered on Tuesday to work on different farms for 11 days.