Looks Decent Enough
—Hmm... I’m not really sure. Where is it?
“It’s okay. No need to rush, so let’s take it slow. Nice and easy.”
The first meeting between Banguli and Himsooni was just the two of them.
In the wild, it was always the mother hippo who took care of raising the calves anyway.
Sniff— sniff— sniff sniff sniff—
When I gave Banguli’s rear a gentle pat, her nostrils flared even more eagerly as she sniffed at her mother’s leg.
“Good, Himsooni’s waiting patiently too. Put a bit more strength in those legs. If you slip and fall, it’ll be a real disaster, you know?”
—I’m keeping my legs strong. Don’t worry.
Contrary to my concerns, Himsooni waited patiently for Banguli to reach her goal. After a little more time passed...
—Ah, I found it! This is Mom’s... no, the grown-up hippo’s...
—Call me Mom.
—...R-really?
Banguli, who had been training to find Himsooni’s milk, pulled her face away in surprise and blinked her round eyes.
—Yeah. It still feels a bit strange to me too. But let’s get used to each other, okay?
—Hehe. Okay!
Himsooni gave an awkward smile, just as I’d taught her, and planted a gentle kiss on Banguli.
Everything was hard at first.
The mother and daughter, meeting for the first time, gradually shed their awkwardness.
“Great job, Banguli! Don’t forget—Mom’s milk is way at the back. Right in front of the hind legs.”
—Got it!
“Banguli, always be careful not to step on her when you go for milk. And Himsooni, watch out too. You never know when Banguli might come charging when she’s hungry.”
—Understood. I’ll do that.
“Perfect. Now let’s try actual nursing. They can do it standing, but since Himsooni’s on the heavier side, lying down might be better. Calves usually nurse until they’re eight months old, so you’ve got about four more months of this...”
Thud!
“Yes! Just like that, lie on your side...”
A few hours earlier.
The keeper who had eyed me with unease and suspicion when I said I’d bring Banguli over, Choi Eun-seo, and the entire Dongmul Nara team...
Now they were all looking at me like I was the resurrected Jesus.
Even amid those piercing stares, the custom training for the Happy Hippo family continued.
“Right. If the water still looks a bit deep, push it away immediately. Hey, Kangdoongi. What are you doing? Just gonna sit there watching?”
—Hmph. Guess even vets don’t know everything. Male hippos, unlike females, are supposed to defend territory and keep the herd safe by...
“What zoo was it again? Their male hippo just turned seven, all sturdy and fit. Might even match better with Himsooni...”
—Calm down, Doctor.
“Move it.”
—On it!
Kangdoongi wasn’t wrong.
In the wild hippo social structure and behavior, nursing, protection, and rearing were mostly the mother’s job.
But in the peaceful Saemangeum Safari enclosure, free of crocs or lions, I wasn’t about to let Kangdoongi splash around lazily, flapping his ears cutely.
Hippos were known for swimming, but it was more like kicking off the riverbed to propel forward or floating along.
For massive adults like Kangdoongi and Himsooni, over a ton each, just lifting their bodies a bit let them poke their heads above water.
But for a calf like Banguli, that was impossible.
So before she grew bigger, if trouble hit in the water, everyone—mom, dad, whoever—would have to jump in to save Kangdoongi.
—Ugh... I wanna get out of the water. It’s scary.
—Good grief. Who’d she get this from? So timid.
—Honey?
—Heh heh. Of course she takes after me. Sigh, kid the size of Banguli. Don’t flail around—put strength in your front legs... Yeah, push forward like that...
Besides nursing practice, there was water adaptation training, grazing together, and a grueling two-hour-plus crash course.
And finally, the last lesson: naptime training without getting squished flat!
The Happy Hippo Family mission was a rough success.
Whoa. I’m already wiped out.
I hadn’t even reached the shoebill enclosure yet, but I felt like I’d poured out all my energy.
Still, seeing Banguli sprawled out, chin on Himsooni’s front leg, snoring away—it felt like the right call.
“Looks like we’re about done here. If Kangdoongi and Himsooni keep this up until Banguli’s fully grown, there shouldn’t be any issues. So, straight to the shoebill enclosure now...? What’s with those looks?”
Why was everyone staring at me like that?
I’d spent more time than expected on hippo family harmony, but they’d been filming quietly, so I figured it was fine.
“No way... Sunbae. How the hell did you do that?”
“Do what?”
Choi Eun-seo, who’d been staring at me, clicked her tongue.
“The head keeper’s been caring for Kangdoongi and Himsooni for over five years since the old zoo. Even he says he’s never seen them like this... Sunbae, did you really develop some animal-talking superpower or something?”
“Eun-seo.”
“Yes, Sunbae?”
Smart kid, but her intuition was annoyingly sharp.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Let’s head to the shoebill enclosure.”
“Hmmm... Got it, Sunbae.”
“And, Keeper.”
“Y-yeah? Me?”
The keeper, standing nearby with a shell-shocked expression, hurried over.
“Just my personal take, but even if she’s on a weight-loss diet, feeding them the same grass gets boring.”
“...I-is that so?”
“The hippos. Toss in some lettuce and fruit—they’d love it. Oh, especially watermelon.”
Leaving the keeper looking possessed, we moved on. Finally, the shoebills’ turn.
“...MBSC? Looks like a broadcast crew.”
“Yeah? Tons of cameras. What show? Hey, is that a celeb over there... Huh?”
“Whoa! It’s Dongmul Nara filming!!”
We’d spent way too long with the hippo family.
When we entered the safari, it hadn’t opened yet. By the time we reached the shoebill enclosure, it was packed with people of all ages.
“Dr. Baek! Over here! Kyaa! He looked at me!”
“Wave for us, Dr. Baek!”
“Dr. Baek, one autograph, please...”
But what threw me most was that they were mobbing me, not Reina.
“Whoa... Sunbae. I knew you were popular, but this? More than an idol?”
Most safari visitors loved animals and paid attention to them.
With the Dongmul Nara guy from Sunday mornings here, it was like chumming the waters with bloodworms for fish.
“...Let’s go.”
“Sunbae, you know? Back then or now, you always avert your eyes when you’re embarrassed.”
“Let’s go. We’re late.”
I hurried Choi Eun-seo along and quick-stepped into the shoebill enclosure.
At least today’s shoebill checkup kept visitors out of the enclosure itself.
Once inside, the echoes of crowd noise vanished, replaced by a vast landscape evoking the lush African savanna.
“Wow...”
The hippo enclosure had mimicked Africa too.
But I was stunned again upon entering the shoebill area—this time by the sheer height.
“Impressive, right? It’s the tallest indoor aviary in the world. Fifty meters up—that’s like the 17th to 20th floor of an apartment.”
“Not just tall... So many bird species? This isn’t shoebill-exclusive?”
With crowds swarming the cart the whole way, I hadn’t even checked the gate properly.
And no matter how endangered shoebills were—only about 8,000 left worldwide—it didn’t make sense for a pair to monopolize this massive space.
The enclosure was so tall, you could believe dinosaurs roamed it.
“Hehe. Fans blocked the gate view, huh, Sunbae? This is the African Bird Aviary inside Bird World. They cohabitate with most species, excluding aggressive raptors that prey on others. Birds flock together in nature too.”
The enormous aviary, too vast to take in at once, had a double-tent structure.
The inner side was a tight net; the outer dome-like steel frame pulled it taut, opening up the ceiling.
“That net acts like grid stickers? To stop bird collisions?”
“Sharp eye, Sunbae. Originally designed with...”
Choi Eun-seo tapped a remote the size of a smartphone, and glass panels in the ceiling slid open and shut.
“The ceiling glass... moves?”
“Yep. They planned grid stickers on the opening glass panels. But for poor-sighted birds, collision risk was too high, so they built it this way. Less pretty aesthetically, but safer.”
Makes sense. All-glass would’ve been stunning—human aesthetics.
But the current net setup, preventing accidents, was beautiful enough.
Especially birds soaring high, mimicking African skies—a spectacular sight.
Whoosh—!
“Whoa! Scared me!”
“Hehe, with birds flying free, dodge the poop. They say bird droppings bring good luck anyway.”
I flinched as a bullet-like dropping whizzed past my shoulder; Choi Eun-seo winked.
“See? Ceiling and sides open for airflow. For birds like flamingos that ride thermals skyward.”
“No way... First time seeing flamingos fly.”
Reina gaped at the flamingo wingbeats, then turned to Choi Eun-seo with a sudden thought.
“But why shoebills here? They’re too heavy to fly. They look like they couldn’t... Wait, me neither? Shoebills too?”
“Exactly. Shoebills don’t soar high, but they reach 100 to 500 meters. This ceiling looks tall to us, but to birds? Nothing.”
Choi Eun-seo smiled at wide-eyed Reina.
“But they’re big, so slower than small birds. Hummingbirds flap 4,200 times a minute; shoebills, 150.”
“Whoa. 150 flaps with that size? I can’t even squat 150 in a minute.”
Choi Eun-seo continued, amused by Reina’s pout.
“Not nonstop. They flap seven seconds, glide seven, repeat. Oh, and in Africa, hippos and shoebills are tight.”
“Big guys bonding? Or... Ah! Africa has fish that eat hippo skin flakes! Symbiosis like that?”
Choi Eun-seo shook her head with a grin.
“Cichlids? Not quite, but kinda related. Hippos churn mud in water, pushing fish to oxygen-rich surface. Shoebills eat those.”
“Eat them...”
“Not their main food, so no need to sulk. They have favorites. Ah, there’s Shushu.”
Choi Eun-seo pointed skyward: a massive, Archaeopteryx-like bird gliding effortlessly.
“Whoaaa... Incredible! Just watching is awe-inspiring!”
A bit dramatic, but I felt the same.
Never imagined seeing a shoebill that huge take to the skies.
Or Saemangeum Safari being this grand.
“Amazing. Shushu’s the female, right?”
“Yes. Shushu female, Shuga male.”
Unlike Shushu ruling the skies, Shuga—the one with the appetite drop—was the issue.
“Where’s Shuga?”
“Shuga... Hmm. Probably over there.”
Amid the birds’ chatter (endless to me), another stunning vista appeared.
Like floating on a tube in a waterpark: an artificial stream, narrow like a creek transplant.
“Wow... This is...”
“Told you before? We feed as close to native habitat diets as possible. Shipping live local fish constantly is tough, so we breed them naturally here.”
The only other Korean shoebill keeper, an aquarium in Sacheon, Gyeongnam, once fed pricey waste fish (1.3-1.5 million won each) or polypterus (200-300k won).
Average five a day: even at 200k, a million daily, 300 million yearly, 4 billion... Yeah, this setup’s cheaper long-term.
Musing that money begets money, I followed the stream when...
“There he is.”
At Choi Eun-seo’s fingertip: a massive shoebill staring intently into the water.
“Whoa, so cool. Staring like that—hunting prep? I studied up before filming.”
“Oh, really?”
“Hehe. Yup. Shoebills focus laser-like, then snatch fish surfacing to breathe!”
“Right. Sometimes a hunt takes three hours.”
“Three hours? Just waiting that long?”
“Depends on...”
As Reina and Choi Eun-seo chatted, something entirely different slipped from Shuga’s beak.
—This is weird... Looks decent enough, actually.