More Zoo Pics

The following photos were taken during the same trip to the San Diego Zoo that generated the pictures I posted a few weeks ago; I just haven't gotten around to post these until now (as before, click the pictures for a larger copy):


Bai Yun, a giant panda, snacks on a tasty stick of bamboo while her young daughter, Su Lin, watches .


A hippopotamus opens wide for a stream of water from a keeper (presumably used--in lieu of a of a 10-foot toothbrush--to clean its mouth).


Pictured here are two okapi. These interesting and beautiful mammals are very closely related to giraffes (although a superficial analysis could easily lead someone to think that they're a species of zebra).


A trio of meerkat guards stand ready to defend their home from any and all attackers.


I don't know what the zoo is doing with an armored truck. . .oh wait. . .sorry, that's not armored truck, it's a rhinoceros!


If I didn't think it would make me dangerously dizzy, I think I could sit and stare at a zebra for hours.


Another unanticipated hummingbird moment. These tiny creatures just seem to be flittering all about the zoo, finding nectar in its plentiful flora.


A pack of pachyderms! Interestingly, the San Diego Zoo has plans to completely overhaul the elephant exhibit, making it much more spacious and comfortable for the elephants, and more informative for visitors (Actually, what they're doing is more ambitious than that, but I won't go into the details here. Suffice to say, it's really exciting.).

I don't know much about this particular animal--other than that it's probably a species of African antelope--but I'm certainly impressed by its contortionist abilities!

Sleeping during the day? Is this koala lazy? Nope, just nocturnal.


And, just because no zoo photo post from me could be complete without at least one primate. . .

. . .here's a picture of my orangutan friends, Satu and Karen, hanging out in their fantastic climbing apparatus.



More later!