Zoo Visit Photos

[ownedbycats]

I was invited to go to the Toronto Zoo last weekend, and came home with a ton of pictures (at least half of which are either blurry or duplicates and triplicates in case the first one didn't turn out )
Since everyone on here likes animals or we wouldn't have pets, I thought you guys would enjoy seing some of the better shots.
First three: African penguin chick, arctic wolf and emerald tree boa (may be mixing the species up with a similar snake)

[ownedbycats]

Next, two young baboons were putting on a show playing king of the hill on the rock cliff right beside the glass window. The actual wrestling pictures are nothing but a blur, but I got a couple nice shots when they took a breather.

[ownedbycats]

The next three are a giraffe, a kookaburra (hopefully that is spelled right), and a lesser snow goose.

[ownedbycats]

We got to the grizzly bears' enclosure just before they were fed. The bears were obviously expecting food, and watching where they knew it would come from. They are impressively large creatures, so watching them play with the carrots they were fed was hilarious. The polar bear cub splashed in the water puddle, then flopped over to sleep behind a rock.

[ownedbycats]

The ostrich was very obliging and stood quite close to the fence, making a nice head shot very easy. I'm not sure what the gray and purple bird on the rock is, I wasn't able to find to sign with it's species. The Toronto Zoo has pavilions that are large buildings with a lot of small enclosures inside, lots of plants in between enclosures, and the some bird species allowed to fly or run free. This guy was one of the ones allowed to run free. The wood duck is a Canadian native, and the zoo was the first time I have ever seen one. They have built a large wooded pond with wooden nest boxes and a wooden hut that looks down on it, so you can watch the birds without scaring them. These are truly wild birds and are allowed to leave and return freely, followiing their migration routes. The day I was there there were tons of mallards and one pair of wood ducks, but the female wouldn't come close enough for pictures.

[ownedbycats]

Last two for now, though I may add more as I edit them. Turtle, can't remember the exact species, but followed the people on the other side of the glass. The raccoon baby was taken while working at night, but being a wild animal I thought he fit in with the others.

[Goldfields]

I thoroughly enjoyed YOUR trip to the Zoo, ownedbycats. Great photo's!

[Goldfields]

That grey bird is very unusual.