Snow Day Cont. (March 14, 2009)

Well, on March 14 I also got to see the other animals at the zoo. At the beginning of the zoo, I got to see both Barky and Chico (meerkats) play around in their indoor exhibit at the Children's Zoo. At first I could not see them because they were inside their tubes, but then Barky appeared and went over to their digging box. After that, he went to the front of the exhibit where Chico followed there after. This was my first time seeing both Chico and Barky do sentry dutty at the same time. It was a joy seeing them together, and finally seeing Chico happy.

Barky (left) and Chico

Also, for the first time in a long time I got to see the elderly Lesser Asian Civet awake and active. She is a nocturnal animal from south east asia, so she spends most of the time asleep in her nest box. Being that she is the only one of her species in the US, it's really important I take enough photos of her.

Small Indian Civet

The other animals that were active at the Children's Zoo were the red-flanked duiker, the gerenuk, and the antelope ground squirrels. I also got to see the mysterious Axolotls that are located inside the cave. Many people never get to see this weird but cool animals. Axolotls are salamanders that originate from Mexico. These are some of the most endargered amphibian species in the world today.

Red-flanked Duiker

Axolotl

After the Children's Zoo I headed over to the main zoo. The first exhibit is the meerkats, but they were not on exhibit, as some construction was going on in the exhibit. In the Australia section everything was the same with most animals sleeping. Over at Campo Gorilla Reserve it was rather quiet as only Glenda and Rapunzel were out on the family exhibit. According to the sign in the front of the exhibit both Kelly and Evelyn are being introduced to the new gorilla Alafia. It said that they plan for her to be on exhibit by this summer. The bachelors were nowhere to be seen.

Glenda (baby) and Rapunzel

Over at the North American section everything was the same, but I did notice that the baby Babirusa was no longer with the mother. In the African section the lions were taking their daily nap. The giraffes were just roaming around. The chimps were sleeping. The okapi was just standing in the back. The only animals that were active were the Coquerel's Sifakas, the Colobus monkeys, and only two of the mandrills.

Coquerel's Sifaka

After that I headed over to the Steller's Sea Eagles, which were taking care of their first egg. One of the eagles was standing by the nest and the other one, which was barely visible, was sitting on the egg. Hopefully the egg will hatch and the eagles will raise a healthy chick. The Siamangs and the gibbons were loud as always, but especially the gibbons by the hippo exhibit.

Steller's Sea Eagle

I also got to see Randa the indian rhino for the first time in a long time. She was out on the left exhibit walking around the tree as her pool was filling up. Randa is an elderly rhino, and I once heard from her keeper that she is well into her fortys.

Randa in her exhibit

Randa

At the end, I headed over to the South American section were I got to see the Aldabra Tortoises walking in their open exhibit. Most animals in this section were active, except the Maned Wolves and Jaguar. I also got a shot of the Red-legged Seriema and the Baird's Tapir, who was awake for the first time in a long time. I then headed over to the Cape Griffon Vulture aviary, where I got to see one of the two new chicks.

Aldabra Tortoise


Red-legged Seriema


Cape Griffon Vultures

Last but not least, I got to see Billy in his new enclosure and he seemed happy. He was playing with his tire for a while until he headed over to his temporary barn.

Hope you guys enjoy my visit. I will be going to the zoo on March 28th, so I will be writting what I saw that day. Till next time.