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I love going to our zoo.  It is small, no elephants or hippos.  But it is nice, it is shady, and it is small enough to do in one-day.  We do not really do the entire zoo in one day, I love having a family membership.  We do our best to get there each week, and we generally do about half of the zoo in 2 or 3 hours and take time at the play area / “contact” area (we used to call them petting zoos).  No rushing, no pressure. Our zoo, each day, has z … Read More

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   It was still a little too cold for a number of the outdoor exhibits, but that’s ok, as over half of everything can be found indoors!   Once we start sticking up around 80, we should find area’s such as the Madagascar outdoor section open once again.  Currently everyone was still hanging out indoors.  Around the Gorilla house, everyone there was also still indoors, but somewhat more active than I have seen them.  I think they too know that spring is in the air, and soon they will be able to spend some time outdoors.

   For those looking for an overview of the zoo, the Skyfarrie ride was not yet up and running, but I am sure it will be soon, what with the shift in weather.  But oblivious to the cooler air, was the Polar bears, who were entertaining everyone swimming around in the outdoor pool area.  Until you see a Polar Bear swimming next to the glass with a child’s face pressed up against it, you may fail to realize just how big one of these bears really is.  I don’t think I would ever want to try petting one.  I don’t care how tame they say he is.  I’m staying on the other side of the fence or glass barrier.

   During our visit, we went to the Desert Dome, Creatures of the Night (below the Desert Dome), the outdoor Bear area, Madagascar, and the Aquarium.  So we only missed out that day on seeing, Pakaderm Hill, the Sea Lions, Butterfly House, Lied Jungle, Mutual Pavillion exhibit, The Cat House, the children’s Dairy Petting Farm, the Giraffe Barn, the Orangutans,  and a few other smaller exhibits that we normally visit in the summer months.

   So, if you’re looking to get outdoors, but have some great indoor area’s to go as well, head on over to the Henry Doorly Zoo.  Everyone’s waiting to see you!

First I must admit that I altered this Lemur photo I took at the Zoo’s Madagascar exhibit.  Any of you who have taken the family to see “Madagascar”, I am sure will still recognise the number one aid to King Julien.  His eyes are not really this big, and neither is his claws.  But you have to stay indoors long enough to let your eyes fully adjust if you are going to see him.   He is really more of a night person, so they have his room dark during the day and light at night, so you have a better chance of seeing him moving around inside the exhibit.  If you really want to see what he looks like for real, you are just going to have to come to the Henry Doorly Zoo and see for yourself.

   The interesting thing was we saw more movement and activities of the Orangutans and Gorillas than we normally ever do.  In the Orangutan house, the two-year old kids were playing constantly with each other.  They would chase each other, throwing a blanket at each other, and or some of the straw which was laid around their area.  In the adjacent holding area, there were two males, one of which kept hiding under a large white cloth sheet, playing what appeared to be Hide-and-seek, with the two youngsters on the other side of the grated door separating the two area.

   Over in the gorilla house, the zoo has a new addition who was riding around on his mothers back.  One of the other females could be seen climbing up a tree, jumping over to a rock shelf and on one occasion, jumping over to a hanging rope, to swing back onto another log.  This was indeed something I have never seen them do before.  When there are crowds of people surround them, they seem more apt to just sit there, staring off into the distance.  Either board with all the activity on the other side of the glass, or perhaps unwilling to provide all those eyes with anything more than an occasional glance.

   So, when is a good time to go to the Zoo.  I would say that last weekend proves that anytime is a good time to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo!

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Maliaka on the left side of image.

This photo was taken back in 2008.   Maliaka is the one on the left side of the Photo.  She came to the zoo when only 3 years old.  So, she had been a member of the zoo family for many years.  Though she leaves us with a sad note of loss for the zoo and all of us zoo members, a ray of sunshine is the plans to expand the pachyderm exhibit to someday hold up to six of these beautiful and majestic animals.  And this hold the promise that the Zoo will be able to continue it’s efforts in maintaining breeding programs for endangered or at risk groups of animals. 

As African Elephants can live to be up to 70 years of age, sadly Maliaka left us perhaps a little too early, but non-the-less, she did share many years with all of us return visitors.  She will be missed.

   I hope to visit the zoo in the next few weeks, and hope to share a few new photo’s. 

Hope everyone else had a good summer and hope to see you this fall at the Zoo!