Saturday, June 2, 2007

More Wild Animals

Laurence, Ann Marie and Russell recently got passes to the SD Zoo and Wild Animal Park, so we finally worked a date to go with them before our passes expire the end of this month. We went to the Wild Animal Park and it was a perfect day: overcast so it was cooler until it got hot in the early afternoon (the Wild Animal Park is inland, therefore much warmer in the summer; the Zoo is closer to the coast, so cooler year-round).

We saw a lot of animals up close...mainly because the new tram around the Heart of Africa is closer to the animals than the old monorail. Also, there were four lions in the lion exhibit and we saw all of them quite close (12 inches away, through glass). Of course, Tom couldn't resist taking a picture of Lukas indoctrinating Russell into the fascinations of culverts and storm drains. It was also interesting to watch the gorillas getting fed...the trainer tossed them bags of food from above, so each gorilla got their correct portion (probably reduces fighting). As always, click on the picture for a larger view.

I know coots are not an exotic bird, but it was cute to see coots nesting on eggs right next to the bridge through the water, and on the other side a mother coot swimming with her new hatchling.

We came to hear the trainer talk about the cheetahs, and, we thought, feed them. But we knew she wasn't going to feed them when they didn't pay any attention to her. I like this picture because she's talking about the cheetahs and they're staring at what they wish was their lunch in the background (water buck?)

We had a great time!

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