The cute, expensive, and fascinating animal products

A visit to the zoo’s souvenir shop is included in the summer camp program. The visit is not compulsory, and some of the children are waiting outside.

Inside, a child is eagerly pumping the flabby legs of a plush peacock.

“Would you like to buy that peacock?”

“Yeah, I’d like but it’s quite expensive.”

It says 36 euros on the price tag.

Instead of the peacock, the child grabs a notebook decorated with a picture of a tiger, a peacock-patterned pen, a fennec fox magnet, and a plush hamster key ring.

Another camper is fiddling with a pencil with a plastic red panda attached into it.

“How did you pick that red panda out of them all?”

“Well, because the red panda is my favorite animal.”

One of the children has picked up a capybara plush toy from the shelf and is showing it to me.

“This has a good size also.”

“I have got quite many things from here, a snow leopard plush toy, a hamster key ring, all kinds of snakes and stuff.” The child wanders between the shelves pointing at their shoppings from previous visits while stroking the capybara.

“Do you always visit this shop too?”

“Yeah, I always come and look around here but if I don’t find anything then I just don’t buy. Because this is a zoo, they are pretty expensive here.”

“I could buy this capybara because it looks cute. I think I’ll buy it.”

Most of the products in the shop represent the animals living in the zoo. Capybara is not one of the zoo residents, and it has obviously ended up as a product in the shop due to the wide popularity of the species in social media.

Three campers are looking at and touching colorful plush snakes.

“Would that snake be nice?”

“It would be funny, at least. I wonder how it could be carried anywhere?”

One of the children is watching the snakes with a plush snow leopard under their arm and mentions:

“My little brother might like that, he loves snakes!”

“How did you choose that snow leopard?”

The child pushes the plush toy towards me and answers: “Because of cuteness.”

A friend standing near starts stroking the snow leopard.

I find myself most attracted to the plush toys representing birds living wild in Finland. I cannot keep my hands off them.

Later, outside the shop, the snow leopard peeks from the child’s fabric bag. As I approach, the leopard gets frightened, makes a sound, and hides into the bag, aided by the child.