Zoo Blogging

For Christmas this year, my family gave me a fancy new digital camera (Between this and and the Ipod that I recently purchased, I'm dangerously close to entering the 21st century!). Thanks to their generosity, I plan to start regularly posting pictures from my frequent trips to the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park. It may not be as good as actually being there--heck, it's not even the next best thing--but you'll just have to take what you can get (unless, of course, you decide to come to San Diego, in which case, I'll take you to the zoo myself)! Here's the first batch, roughly grouped in chronological order (click each photo for a larger, sharper version):

Near the entrance to the zoo is a small lagoon with flamingos and quite a few ducks. Adeptly serving as the Zoo's unofficial visitors greeters, they are usually the first animals that visitors see.

Exhausted after a tiring wrestling match with his two-year-old son (not pictured because they were very close to the glass, and my attempts to reduce the glare were unsuccessful; you'll just have to trust me that it was hilarious.), Satu, a Sumatran orangutan--and quite possibly my favorite animal in the zoo--rests in the morning sunlight while eating a snack.

Memba, a 37-year-old silverback gorilla (of the western lowland variety) and head of a seven member troop, surveys his kingdom. . .

. . .and decides that it's time for a nap!

Mom carries her nine-month-old baby in typical gorilla fashion.


Mumba from an alternate view--they call 'em silverbacks for a reason!


A two-week-old Angolan Colubus monkey and its (the keepers haven't determined its sex yet) mother.


A bonobo mother and her son (I think!). Bonobos are the rarest--and quite possibly smartest--of all the non-human apes, and are closely related to chimpanzees (which makes them closely related to us, as well) . Located only in a small area of the Democratic Republic of Congo, these beautiful primates are on the verge of extinction.


A male bonobo is. . .well, I think you can figure it out.


A free-flying hummingbird looks for something tasty to drink.


Clyde, the magnificently nappy and adorable dominant-male orangutan. He is also the father of Satu.


Satu grooms Clyde before bedtime. Despite the lower qualiy of this picture, it's one of my favorites from the entire day. It's rare that I see these two orangutans interact (and when I do, it's usually because Satu has decided to antagonize his father), so I was very glad to be able witness them sharing an affectionate moment.

Well that's it for now, but don't worry--I've got lots more pictures from this visit that I will post soon; and I promise that the next set won't be quite so primate-centric!