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Vacation Day 4 - Louisville Zoo
May. 21st, 2007 10:00 pmWe started the day a bit lazy and watched "Ninja Warrior" (Japanese show where people try to get through a fairly intense obstacle course in a set amount of time) on the TV for a bit. Very amusing commentary and amazing strength/skill in many of the contestants.
Louisville Zoo http://www.louisvillezoo.com/
We spent several hours at the Louisville Zoo. I had heard about a fascinating exhibit that they built where they could rotate a number of different species through a set of enclosures and the stimulation of new space and evidence of other species (including predator/prey) helped keep the critters happy and healthy. Unfortunately, I think they don't do that anymore (or I was remembering the wrong zoo or at least cut it back quite a bit).
First we saw the carousel. PTC with fiberglass replicas of some of the original horses (though they were not at a one to one ratio ... more like they pulled molds of a few horses and scattered the copies. The outer row however is entirely new characters ... all sponsored by various friends of the zoo (and I gather they get to choose what goes there) and all are endangered animals. Lions, giraffe, gorilla, frog, butterfly... Very pretty but needing some TLC.
Then it was off to the live animals. We saw a herd of giraffes sharing space with a Ruppell's Griffon Vulture and Egyptian geese. Some ducks, canadian geese and peacocks also wandered in and out. The Rhinos and warthogs were sacked out in the sun/shade as was the ostrich. The Addax was very pretty (mostly white antelope relative). The Bongos were stunning (as always) ... they are a rich brown with white zebra type stripes and shared space with a crowned crane. The Asian elephant was out and one of the camels was convinced that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence and was trimming it well (the giraffes trimmed some trees too). The lions were sacked out and one was doing the "stretch, grumble, snooze" routine. Didn't see much of the Zebras at first but later we did. These were mountain zebras with brown stripes and the stripes at the back are really wide.
The next big thing was the woolly monkeys. They were inside when we got there and I was commenting on how the keepers could re-arrange the ropes on the island to give them options. And out one came with a toy in his(?) tail. He climbed up a tree and investigated the toy a bit, another came out and plain monkey walking wasn't for him. He went on the railing ropes with his hands down the ramp from the inside option, then two-legged walked, then went rope climbing quite a bit. The one with the toy alternated carrying it with his hands and with his tail.
Gorillas weren't doing much but the Siberian Tiger was gorgeous. Then it was past the polar bear who was getting sprayed to keep cool. Then it was time to go back to the elephant house and see the baby. At 2:00 they put the baby out. Yes, they have a baby (2 months old) and he went out at 2:00. He is so cute! We got to see him dig a bit, drink from the water facet, try to get stuff in his mouth with his trunk (not very adept at that yet ... he kept moving his body instead of his trunk), climb on some rocks, walk under mother, try to push a rock taller than he is. Basically be your typical very young elephant.
Out to the car for a snack, then back in and we saw (in no particular order) some baby ducks, some young ducks, a few enormous tortoises, a miniature train garden, some arachnids, some snakes, a couple of regular alligators, an albino alligator, penguins, orangutan, Sumatran tiger, bats, fish, maned wolves (including a young one), flamingos, swans, puma, a seriously sacked out (on his back) snow leopard, storks, macaws, a sleeping rhea and some Guanacos (look a lot like llamas). Then we decided to head out since we wanted to catch a movie and see Heroes.
The exhibits we missed: jaguar, bald eagle, ocelot, and various Australian animals.
After we left the zoo, we headed west, watched Shrek 3, and went to the next hotel for Heroes.
Louisville Zoo http://www.louisvillezoo.com/
We spent several hours at the Louisville Zoo. I had heard about a fascinating exhibit that they built where they could rotate a number of different species through a set of enclosures and the stimulation of new space and evidence of other species (including predator/prey) helped keep the critters happy and healthy. Unfortunately, I think they don't do that anymore (or I was remembering the wrong zoo or at least cut it back quite a bit).
First we saw the carousel. PTC with fiberglass replicas of some of the original horses (though they were not at a one to one ratio ... more like they pulled molds of a few horses and scattered the copies. The outer row however is entirely new characters ... all sponsored by various friends of the zoo (and I gather they get to choose what goes there) and all are endangered animals. Lions, giraffe, gorilla, frog, butterfly... Very pretty but needing some TLC.
Then it was off to the live animals. We saw a herd of giraffes sharing space with a Ruppell's Griffon Vulture and Egyptian geese. Some ducks, canadian geese and peacocks also wandered in and out. The Rhinos and warthogs were sacked out in the sun/shade as was the ostrich. The Addax was very pretty (mostly white antelope relative). The Bongos were stunning (as always) ... they are a rich brown with white zebra type stripes and shared space with a crowned crane. The Asian elephant was out and one of the camels was convinced that the grass was greener on the other side of the fence and was trimming it well (the giraffes trimmed some trees too). The lions were sacked out and one was doing the "stretch, grumble, snooze" routine. Didn't see much of the Zebras at first but later we did. These were mountain zebras with brown stripes and the stripes at the back are really wide.
The next big thing was the woolly monkeys. They were inside when we got there and I was commenting on how the keepers could re-arrange the ropes on the island to give them options. And out one came with a toy in his(?) tail. He climbed up a tree and investigated the toy a bit, another came out and plain monkey walking wasn't for him. He went on the railing ropes with his hands down the ramp from the inside option, then two-legged walked, then went rope climbing quite a bit. The one with the toy alternated carrying it with his hands and with his tail.
Gorillas weren't doing much but the Siberian Tiger was gorgeous. Then it was past the polar bear who was getting sprayed to keep cool. Then it was time to go back to the elephant house and see the baby. At 2:00 they put the baby out. Yes, they have a baby (2 months old) and he went out at 2:00. He is so cute! We got to see him dig a bit, drink from the water facet, try to get stuff in his mouth with his trunk (not very adept at that yet ... he kept moving his body instead of his trunk), climb on some rocks, walk under mother, try to push a rock taller than he is. Basically be your typical very young elephant.
Out to the car for a snack, then back in and we saw (in no particular order) some baby ducks, some young ducks, a few enormous tortoises, a miniature train garden, some arachnids, some snakes, a couple of regular alligators, an albino alligator, penguins, orangutan, Sumatran tiger, bats, fish, maned wolves (including a young one), flamingos, swans, puma, a seriously sacked out (on his back) snow leopard, storks, macaws, a sleeping rhea and some Guanacos (look a lot like llamas). Then we decided to head out since we wanted to catch a movie and see Heroes.
The exhibits we missed: jaguar, bald eagle, ocelot, and various Australian animals.
After we left the zoo, we headed west, watched Shrek 3, and went to the next hotel for Heroes.