San Diego Zoo

We went to the zoo for a few hours on Monday.  Every  one of our zoo visits starts with a gondola ride to the top of the zoo, and Joan and I go to the Polar Bear exhibit.  The bears were pretty active and some chasing was involved.

The large male bear is the star of this next picture.

After a chase, these two ended up in the water.

When you leave the pool, you dry off, right? Bears shake like dogs and get  reasonably dry.

The Zoo has many exhibits, such as this a male Spectacled Eider having a deep sleep.

Joan and I were both smitten with this male Smew, normally found in Europe or Asia.

Here's the same bird 'head on'.

This Southern Gerenuk Mom is stretching for the flowering part of this tree cutting.

Here's her four day old baby, hiding under some nearby natural fencing.

Next is a mountain lion.

And here's the mountain lion's partner.

Next is a very regal Jaguar.

The elephant odyssey at the park is a very large area devoted to the elephants.  They have a huge facility to care for these large animals, and we were witness to some foot care being delivered to a 50 year old Asian elephant.

The elephant was given some treats, then asked to put its rear foot on the crossbar of this reinforced hospital area.  The Vet did his work, while the elephant was given salad stuff.  When that foot was done, the trainer blew a whistle and the elephant presented the other rear foot.  Pretty amazing training if you ask me.

Here, the Vet is clearing out accumulated mud from the recent rains, to help eliminate or repair thrush. The elephant was happy, the vet was happy, and then, so were we.

It's simply amazing to see how the zoo staff interact with their animals.

Here's a very happy tourist coming out of the elephant odyssey. Note the fairly warm clothing, compliments of El Nino...

I'm sure we'll be back, so please stay tuned.