Weekend of Natural Cultural Institutions - Bronx Zoo
The Bronx Zoo (located, surprisingly, in the Bronx) is apparently one of the biggest in terms of conservation and research. Recently, I read a story of an orphaned snow leopard found by a Pakistani farmer. His family took in the leopard, first keeping it in their home, and later moving it out to a shed. However, as the cub grew, they knew they needed help, and enlisted the help of some WWF workers nearby. After who knows how much negotiation and preparation, the cub will be coming to the Bronx Zoo (maybe it's already there?), and the Zoo will help Pakistan set up a conservation program to save these endangered large cats.
Anyway, we'd been to the zoo before, but that was in winter, and many of the outdoor animals were not on display. This time, the zoo was a hopping place, on both sides of the fences! The lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) were fun to watch, but everywhere it was too crowded for me to really enjoy watching these wonderful creatures.
We both still enjoyed the indoor exhibits more, which we were able to see during the winter. The Monkey House houses squirrel monkeys, tamarins, and other smaller primates. I'm certainly quite drawn to these smaller primates now that I've had
the experience of petting and feeding one.
We'd visited the Mouse House in winter as well, but only had 4 minutes before closing in which to watch all these cute little rodents bounce around. This time, we were able to spend much more time lingering over their cuteness, our enjoyment punctuated by screeching children in the small enclosed space. One day we'll have a pleasant time visiting with the mice, I hope! Anyway, we were able to catch a pair of flying squirrels copulating! (The only time they were still enough for us to see them clearly, in fact.) I wonder if there will be squirrel babies in another month?
Speaking of which, there were lots of young around the zoo. Each exhibit that had a recent birth was signed, and made people much more interested in seeing the exhibit. The langur monkey baby was tiny, and each monkey in the clan seemed to take turns holding it. This was in the Asian Jungle building, where we also spotted a pair of tree kangaroos who didn't seem to be getting along. The photo shows the weaker one, looking exactly how I thought it felt after being bullied out of the comfy crook in the tree.
We also ventured over to the sea birds colony and watched Magellan penguins swimming and splashing and waddling! Who knew they made so much noise squawking and cheeping at one another?
Speaking of large birds, the birds of prey area was pretty neat. Especially impressive was when one would stretch out its wings, and you could see the 6ft wingspan blocking out your view of everything else nearby! These vultures are definitely not pretty birds, though!
Anyway, we'd been to the zoo before, but that was in winter, and many of the outdoor animals were not on display. This time, the zoo was a hopping place, on both sides of the fences! The lions and tigers and bears (oh my!) were fun to watch, but everywhere it was too crowded for me to really enjoy watching these wonderful creatures.
We both still enjoyed the indoor exhibits more, which we were able to see during the winter. The Monkey House houses squirrel monkeys, tamarins, and other smaller primates. I'm certainly quite drawn to these smaller primates now that I've had
the experience of petting and feeding one.
We'd visited the Mouse House in winter as well, but only had 4 minutes before closing in which to watch all these cute little rodents bounce around. This time, we were able to spend much more time lingering over their cuteness, our enjoyment punctuated by screeching children in the small enclosed space. One day we'll have a pleasant time visiting with the mice, I hope! Anyway, we were able to catch a pair of flying squirrels copulating! (The only time they were still enough for us to see them clearly, in fact.) I wonder if there will be squirrel babies in another month?
Speaking of which, there were lots of young around the zoo. Each exhibit that had a recent birth was signed, and made people much more interested in seeing the exhibit. The langur monkey baby was tiny, and each monkey in the clan seemed to take turns holding it. This was in the Asian Jungle building, where we also spotted a pair of tree kangaroos who didn't seem to be getting along. The photo shows the weaker one, looking exactly how I thought it felt after being bullied out of the comfy crook in the tree.
We also ventured over to the sea birds colony and watched Magellan penguins swimming and splashing and waddling! Who knew they made so much noise squawking and cheeping at one another?
Speaking of large birds, the birds of prey area was pretty neat. Especially impressive was when one would stretch out its wings, and you could see the 6ft wingspan blocking out your view of everything else nearby! These vultures are definitely not pretty birds, though!
posted by blumaroo at
4:13 PM
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