Ostriches where I didn't expect them

Last week I made a trip out of town to a city that is about 170 KMs. away, still a good two and a half hour drive. I did stay at a nice hotel with a/c and all the trimmings. But being who I am, I had to go out and see what new things I could see, all this under an incredibly hot sun, temps were bordering 40 degrees C. Well about a Kilometer from my hotel was the local mall, yes, this city has a mall, well its population is over 200,000 so it does have a lot of quite modern facilities. Anyway I walked there, and cooled off inside as it has a/c, it also has a ferris wheel. This surprised me, it is small. maybe thirty feet in diameter. still that is high enough to make sure I don't get on it.

Well I had had enough of this mall and decided to go back to the hotel. On the way on a dirt road I saw a big sign which said pet shop in Spanish. This is nothing that gets me excited as I don't keep pets, I am OK with animals, but taking care of them is a whole different deal. But then I noticed something strange so I went a little closer. Sure enough in a very large cage there were six large ostriches. this stopped me. I reasoned this was not completely legal, so I took a few pictures and didn't get too close. I mean it seems exotic animals are a thing with the bigger drug dealers and I have no intention of being even close to something like that.

I would have liked to go close, talk to the guys there, see what they are fed, see if they are for sale and also find out if people do buy them. My guess is there must be a market for them, because providing food for these birds must be expensive, they are big, and I doubt a small pet shop can afford to keep them. But indeed I am a coward and did nothing like that. So all I have are questions and these few photos I am showing you.

I do hope you like the photos, and find them as intriguing as I did.