Photos of Port Pirie? or Photos of the Zoo?

Let's go to the Zoo! 
That was more fun and a lot less tiring, although I did fall asleep as soon as I got home.

Once I'd seen the Dinosaur exhibit, I thought I might as well see more of the Zoo animals. 
I remembered the last time I'd been there with the grandchildren 16 years ago. 
There were bison there then and lions, neither of those is there now.
There are still giraffes, but I didn't go there this time.

I saw the alligators, their hides are so thick and smooth I almost thought they were life sized rubber models. Then this one started moving towards me, so I moved on....

I found the seals, but missed seeing them feeding by about five minutes. I'd heard the announcement, but I was a bit too far away to get there in time. I remembered my last visit when there were quite a few seals, now we have only two. 
(No Polar Bears either, I remember those from my last visit.)

one was sunning on the rocks,

while the other swam circles in the pond. Round and round, every time he passed the red ball, he'd pop his head above water then duck straight under again. I must have taken a couple of dozen photos just trying to capture that heads up moment, but this is as close as I got. He was just too fast.

These animals looked like goats to me....

but they are Barbary Sheep. 
There is a mountain of angular rocks in the enclosure and at first I didn't notice the sheep right near the top, then a child nearby pointed them out to his dad...

They were up quite high, with these three being more clearly seen, while the rest were in too much shade to photograph successfully.

Moving on.....

look at these cute little Otters, posing so sweetly while cameras clicked all around them. Every few minutes they would sit up like this, then go back to darting around in and out of the water.

In the Baboon enclosure, at first I couldn't see anything, then I spotted this big fellow hiding in the shade. I took the photo, then showed it to two children beside me, so they'd know what they were looking for. They got quite excited when they spotted him. I couldn't see any others, so followed the path around and there they were! I hadn't seen them because there is quite a bit of vegetation and of course they were all on the shady side.

This quite young one appeared happy to sit and be photographed, while the others moved away from any attention and those photos are too blurred.

I moved on, only to find that in the heat of midday, most animals were hiding and sleeping in shady spots.








Comments

  1. Nice collection of animals at your zoo! It is interesting how the exhibits change over the years. Surprised there were no polar bears there, though. Those are always my favorite to see when we go to the zoo :)

    betty

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  2. Ah, yes, summer sunshine. I have a lovely bottle here I could send to have filled up.
    Sixteen years off is a long time. It does look as if the zoo has kept up with the times.

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  3. I guess it is too hot for Polar bears.
    I think we have some in Sydney but like you I haven't been for a long time
    Merle.

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  4. The baboon photo is good. I could watch otters for hours. Theirs seem to be a life of fun. Watching goats or these sheep jump from rock to rock is amazing.

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  5. I enjoyed our visit to the zoo!! Although we're still members of the Los Angeles zoo, we haven't been there for years!!

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  6. Oooh. Loved it. Thank you. Otters are soooo cute.
    We apparently acquired a new giraffe on Christmas Eve, and the Sun Bears had twins just before that. When they are introduced to the world I would love to go and see them.

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  7. Great photos River.
    I like the Barbary Sheep - as I love goats and, next to dogs, they are my favourite animals. We used to have milking goats, and they are so intelligent.
    Next, would have to be the otters - so sweet. Have you seen how sea otters hold hands when they lie on the water to keep from drifting apart? Very cute.
    Thanks for the tour.

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  8. betty; probably it's too hot for Polar Bears and the upkeep money was used instead to create the environment for our two pandas.

    Joanne; if I could bottle sunshine I'd definitely send you some!

    Merlesworld; I'm pretty sure Taronga Zoo has everything, it's huge and beautiful.

    Andrew; I got lucky. Last time I was there all I saw were baboon bums. I was hoping the sheep would climb a bit, but they just lay there resting.

    fishducky; I've been thinking of buying a membership. I'd like to go more often, when it is feeding time, for photos.

    Elephant's Child; those otters were
    soooo playful and I'm sure they were playing to us, their audience.

    Vicki; thanks. We used to have milking goats too, the two milkers in the family, (not me), would hold contests to see who could squirt the milk the furthest, sometimes they'd squirt each other. The goats must have had such patience! I've seen magazine images of sea otters holding hands, it's very cute.

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  9. Lovely shots. It's not easy to get good shots of animals. They are not inclined to pose.

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  10. Great photos!!! We also went to the Zoo in Dec, Australia Zoo! The kids (and grown ups) had a lot of fun! xo

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  11. Delores; the otters were the exception, they were definitely posing every few minutes! I have a friend who has been know to sit by an enclosure all day to get just the right shot at an animal.

    Farmers Wifey; I have the Australian Zoo on my list of "got to"

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  12. Smart animals sleeping in a shady spot!

    I always liked seeing the hippos and the fennec fox (in the nocturnal house). The little marmosets and tamarins were also lovely to watch. My fondest memories are of Samorn the elephant (though I worried about her pacing in her elephant house) and George the orangutan, who was a real character. I remember one year they got him to do the footy tipping and he beat the so-called "experts" on the local telly and newspaper :-)

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  13. We live near and have passes to the San Diego Wild Safari Park. I love your photos. Well done.

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  14. Marie; I really should choose a cooler day next time I go, and maybe later too, so they aren't all taking midday naps. We don't have the Tamarins anymore, George is gone too, even the Meerkats are gone.

    Susan Kane; A wild safari park?? I'm a little envious now.

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