About ten years ago we made a family trip to San Diego, visiting all the main attractions, and came away with many happy memories. This week I’m back (to film part of the LISA conference) and was happy, in a very hectic month, to have a day to myself. So I went to the San Diego Zoo.
I got there so early that some of the animals were just waking up. This meerkat looks as though it needs coffee.
Who’s in captivity?
Red River Hog - love those ear tufts!
This young puma paced restlessly, completely uninterested in anything outside her cage, until someone came by with a couple of small children. Then the puma’s attitude changed abruptly: it was instantly clear where she saw herself, relative to small humans, on the food chain.
Why did the peacock cross the road?
I love zoos, because I love seeing the animals. But zoos also make me sad, because I’d rather see those animals in the wild (a few times in my life, I’ve had that privilege), and so many species are becoming rare outside of zoos. But zoos like this one are contributing to conservation efforts, in hopes that someday we may be able to restore wild habitats and reintroduce the animals to them.
- This young grizzly was one of a pair that had to be taken out of the wild because their mother was teaching them bad habits like raiding human garbage cans.