We went to the zoo today!

starryeyedtiger

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And it was soooooo much fun!
My best friend and I both had today off work so we went to the zoo. It was great!
We usually go several times a summer (we're zoo members). Last year we went almost every week when we got a chance. (hoping to do the same thing this year) All of the animals were sooo beautiful. I got to see the baby giraffe that was born a few months ago as well -it's just gorgeous!!!
(they're my favorite animal.) Also a new exhibit for the polar bears and sea lions recently opened called "Northwest Passage" -it's gorgeous!!!!
We got to see the sea lion show too and it was great. we also got to see the elephant show too with their keepers. one was in it's forties and the other elephant was 21- they were sooo smart!!! What beautiful animals!!! The new butterfly exhibit was open for the summer as well so we saw that in addition to everything else. The female giant panda, YaYa is supposed to have her baby soon too, so hopefully in a few weeks we'll get to go back and see a baby giant panda too
It was wonderful!!! It actually wasn't too hot today eithor so that was good! The only lousy thing was the haze that's been hanging over Memphis for a few days now from the fires in georgia and fla. We had such a good time today!!
(and spent way too much in the gift shop
)

Here's the link the Memphis zoo website. http://www.memphiszoo.org/
 

carolpetunia

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Oh gosh... living vicariously through you here. I dearly love the zoo! And I love giraffes, too -- do you know about Lynn Sherr's book? Don't know what it's called, but she's a giraffe lover as well, and has done a lot of stories about them in her news career. (She says she likes them because they're tall blondes, like her.
)

I'm crazy about zebras, too, and of course tigers, and gazelles and flamingos and anything that's a baby. Baby animals are irresistible!

I always feel bad watching the apes and monkeys, though. They're so intelligent -- it just can't be right for them to be captives. And yet, of course, they're bound to have longer, safer lives in a zoo than in the wild, so I don't know.

Except for the one that escaped here in Dallas a couple of years ago -- a gorilla tore through a chainlink fence and ran into several people. Nobody was really hurt much, but the police shot and killed the gorilla. I don't understand why that was necessary. The zoo staff should have had tranquilizer guns handy, so deadly force wouldn't have to be used!

Anyway... I have a hard time finding anyone to go to the zoo with me. Last time, I talked my 81-year-old mom into it, but it turned out to be a very cold day, and she found she just couldn't handle all the walking.

So we went to the gift shop and bought a big beach towel to wrap around her head and shoulders to keep her warm, and I rented a wheelchair to push her around in. It looked like I was taking Granny Svetlana from the Old Country to the zoo!
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by MoochNNoodles

Awwww! That sounds like fun!
It was!! We had such a great time!


Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Oh gosh... living vicariously through you here. I dearly love the zoo! And I love giraffes, too -- do you know about Lynn Sherr's book? Don't know what it's called, but she's a giraffe lover as well, and has done a lot of stories about them in her news career. (She says she likes them because they're tall blondes, like her.
)

I'm crazy about zebras, too, and of course tigers, and gazelles and flamingos and anything that's a baby. Baby animals are irresistible!

I always feel bad watching the apes and monkeys, though. They're so intelligent -- it just can't be right for them to be captives. And yet, of course, they're bound to have longer, safer lives in a zoo than in the wild, so I don't know.

Except for the one that escaped here in Dallas a couple of years ago -- a gorilla tore through a chainlink fence and ran into several people. Nobody was really hurt much, but the police shot and killed the gorilla. I don't understand why that was necessary. The zoo staff should have had tranquilizer guns handy, so deadly force wouldn't have to be used!

Anyway... I have a hard time finding anyone to go to the zoo with me. Last time, I talked my 81-year-old mom into it, but it turned out to be a very cold day, and she found she just couldn't handle all the walking.

So we went to the gift shop and bought a big beach towel to wrap around her head and shoulders to keep her warm, and I rented a wheelchair to push her around in. It looked like I was taking Granny Svetlana from the Old Country to the zoo!
If you ever come to Memphis, i will have to take you to the zoo with me
It's just lovely! Also - a TON of the exhibits are open and cage /fence free (they have other more open/spacious ways of keeping them in). So it's a lot better for the animals. The monkeys are in a huge exhibit called "Primate Canyon"- it's cage free- they have a lot of space (compared to most zoos) and are taken great care of. We also have an exhibit called "Cat Country" that is great!!!!!! I LOVE it! It's where all of the big cats are located (also cage free). The zoo is hoping in a few years/with more money to expand the exhibits for the giraffes and a few other animals (keep your fingers crossed it happens!!!) /My best friend is about the only one who will got to the zoo with me around here
Colin just doesn't get as excited about it as i do...but Renae and I - man we could spend all day there


(this tells you a little bit about one of the newer exhibits, "the northwest passage" -oh my goodness and it is LOVELY!!!
)
http://www.memphiszoo.org/support.aspx?pid=55
 
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starryeyedtiger

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Originally Posted by Duchess15

I bet that was tons of fun! We got to go to the San Diego zoo last year when we went to California. Glad you had fun!
Oh it was! We had a good time!!
/ What is the San Diego zoo like???? I bet it's nice!!!
 

white cat lover

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I haven't been to a Zoo in forever! The nearest one is in Sioux Falls, SD. It's AWFUL! The cages are so small...I dunno. I cry every time I go there. Otherwise, there's one 3 hours north of me in the TC area. There are cages, but it's so big & nice. All the animals have tons of space. I'm thinking thats where I'll take my vacation this year!
 

duchess15

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Originally Posted by StarryEyedTiGeR

Oh it was! We had a good time!!
/ What is the San Diego zoo like???? I bet it's nice!!!
It's huge!
Lots of walking, but they have so many animals. It's really nice! Their most popular exhibit is the panda bear where they film the documentary on animal planet or discovery for the baby pandas.
 
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