The St. Pete zoo was the most pathetic zoo I have ever been to, yet at the same time quite entertaining. A quarter of the animals aren't even in their cages. Zoo employees have them out so you can take pictures with them (for several rubles, of course). The cages are surrounded by a waist high fence that is supposed to keep people from getting too close to the cages and having their arms torn off by the lions or something, but if you pay the cage cleaners a few rubles they will look the other way as you climb over the fence...if there are no employees nearby, then parents will lift their kids over the fence and let them feed the animals. The animals look pretty depressed because not only are they in a zoo...they are in a RUSSIAN zoo! The monkeys go nuts and scream and rattle their cages...what a great zoo.
A lion. He got really pissed and started roaring very loudly. The Russians just stood there and laughed at him.
I like polar bears, so I had to take a picture of them. Their living area was actually one of the nicest of all the zoo animals, and that's pretty sad. Their water was a nasty green color.