Spotlight: Whole zoo walk through during a chilly fall day
Can you find me?
We decided spur of the moment to head on down to the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden. From Pittsburgh its about a 5-5.5 hour drive, so we left pre-dawn to be at the zoo by the opening. Over the course of my zoo career I had visited the zoo multiple times personally and for conferences, but never in the fall/winter season.
One of the first stops was to see the Colobus monkey and gorillas. A few of the gorillas I had worked with here born at the Cincinnati Zoo, but this was the first trip there looking to see their relatives. It was also neat to check out the structures and enrichment after working with the species for a little while.
After gorillas and colobus we headed over to watch the Mexican wolves for a long time. I have seen the species at many facilities, but this morning was the best viewing I had every had. They were interacting with each other, enrichment in the form of bone/diet delivery on bone, and were calm around the guests.
After the wolves we walked around for a little and headed over World of the Insect, which I had never gotten to walk through before. We agreed this was our favorite section of the zoo for the day! So many species, great comparisons between species, and viewing ability were fantastic. From a photo taking view, I was so excited about the species I took 1 photo at the beginning and enjoyed getting lost in the habitats for the rest of the walk through. Sometimes, its nice to put the camera down and enjoy.
One of my person favorite habitats is the red pandas. I enjoy the photo opportunities of seeing them exploring, resting, and sleeping in the trees. We had just the right light angle to allow us to see the bright red fur against the leaves. I had normally been at the zoo in full summer, so the less dense foliage was great to capture some shots with more light.
Tree time!
Of course, a visit to the Cincy Zoo isn't complete without checking in on Renji, snow leopard. She is the daughter of Czar, a snow leopard I worked on a research project with back at the start of my zoo career. Every time I'm in Cincy I make sure to spend time with her, laughing at the silly snow leopard antics, seeing little bit of Czar behavior traits in her, and just enjoying watching her and Nubo.
Renji
Renji, snow leopard
Nubo, snow leopard
Malayan tigers are also so neat to see. For me, they are so tiny! I'm used to working around Amur tigers.
After a Cat Canyon tour we headed over to Jungle Trails. Even in the fall with less leaves, the pathway is still amazing. The species are such a neat mix and adding in the element of human movements on play areas along the trail is neat.
The reptiles habitats are also great to see, while giving them space from guests. I always like to focus on the scales for snakes, keeping the exposure darker to bring out the details and shadows. And it also helps that typically reptiles are slow moving when we visit them.
When we were heading out for the day, the light was even more dramatic than the morning, giving deep shadows. Perfect subject, bald eagles!
