ZOO STORIES!!

We were fortunate to visit the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Washington DC when the giant panda was still there. Just watching the panda (eat) made us happy!

Years ago, when we visited Las Vegas and asked about the zoo, the  hotel concierge said not to bother going because it was a small zoo and  there wasn’t much to it. We went anyway – and our daughter had a blast:  feeding a gazillion pigeons and other birds and animals, and getting up close to some animals she had not seen before. (And how many times did  she ask to go back again to feed the animals? We lost count.) And in truly awesome news, there is a new zoo under construction in Las Vegas!

Meet Zoolander: he’s a ZONKEY!!

I didn’t know that zonkeys existed in real life until I went to the Grand Canyon Deer Farm & Petting Zoo in Williams, AZ. Pretty amazing! They also had lots  of deer (obviously), friendly porcupines, a dromedary, & more.   --> deerfarm.com

Here's one of my favorite pics from Zoo de Barcelona.  I was fortunate to get them all in profile; it just took a little bit of patience!

This beauty was at a zoo in Cabo San Lucas (Santiago  Ecological Park). It took us off the beaten path and into the  countryside where cows stood in the middle of the road. (How do you tell  a cow to MOOOOVE out of the way?)  Pretty cool: white peafowl are known to have a genetic mutation (leucism) that prevents them from having color in their feathers.

“Oooo!  That’s the brightest flamingo I’ve ever seen!” – is what was going  through my head when I saw this bird at the St. Maarten Zoo. Of course,  it wasn’t! It’s a SCARLET IBIS – a much shorter-legged and distant cousin to the  flamingo, common in those parts. The zoo had many other exotic birds,  including a remarkably friendly cockatoo that said “Hello” – but only  when you walked AWAY from its cage! Sadly, St. Maarten Zoo closed after damage from Hurricane Irma (2017).