Given that today is a weekday and the weather forecast predicted a 90% chance of heavy thunderstorms I thought that the Bronx zoo would be mostly empty. I was way off. At times the crush of the crowds, vacationers and neon-clad elementary school groups, was almost too much to bear and I was actually a bit relieved when I made it home just as the storm broke.
Oddly enough it seems that many of the animals were frustrated today, too; snow leopards, rock hyraxes, small-clawed otters, and other animals were tussling with each other throughout the day. Still, despite the frequent bumps, jostles, and occasional 5 year old that ran smack into me (I was starting to think I was invisible) today was good. I'll share more photos as the days go on but for now here are two close-ups of western gorillas (a female, top, and a silverback, bottom);
Zoo comment of the day; Confused as to the affinities of the okapi a woman near me said "It's like a zebra mixed with a horse!" (The other popular interpretation was a dog mixed with a horse. Few, if any, people read the signs in front of the enclosure to find out the real answer.)
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Great pictures!
I've been meaning to get to the Bronx Zoo...I don't suppose the Bronx Zoo has baboons? Almost no zoos have baboons, and if they do, it's usually hamadryas baboons.
Those are photos are taken through Plexiglass, right? Do you bring a bottle of Windex and paper towels to get rid of the omnipresent smudges and fingerprints, or do you just search for a relatively clean spot? I know being tall helps. Schoolchildren are only so big, after all. And today was muggy as hell. I can't imagine trudging through crowds in the Bronx.
"It's like a zebra mixed with a horse!"
I'd kind of like to know what she thinks makes up a zebra, actually...
A zebra is a crosswalk mixed with a donkey, of course! Sheesh, some people...!
I guess I can see where the whole zebra/horse thing might come from (sort of) but a dog?!? why?
I invariably can't help commenting out loud (loud enough to be overheard) to those I'm with with the correct info in that situation. I guess it might make me come acrioss as random know it all dick to the random zoogoers occasionally but often people are drawn into conversation. Some people don't want to go to zoos and read all the little signs and hence make assumptions and I can kind of understand that (although not so much if they are actually confused about something) - zoo visits are about seeing cool animals afterall.
"I invariably can't help commenting out loud (loud enough to be overheard) to those I'm with with the correct info in that situation."
I was severely tempted to do so, Tai, but if I did I would be there all day. It's amazing how many animals people just make up their own identification for, though. If I believed everything I heard at the zoo gorillas are monkeys, snow leopards are tigers, okapis are horses, otters are rats, etc.
Going to the zoo is about seeing cool animals but given the tendency of people to walk up to enclosure, say "It looks like a ..." and then walk away 45 seconds later I have to wonder how zoos can better educate people (or at least get them to know what they're looking at). Like museums there is a lot of text at the zoo but I don't think I saw anyone reading any of it, even when they had a question about the animals.
Lisa D- the Bronx claims to have Baboons- but they are actually Geladas. I guess the whole Baboon/Monkey classification is still up for debate? I was pleasantly surprised by the mislabeling (?), though- Geladas are some of my favorite primates.
Funnily enough, when the okapi first hit the scientific literature it was under the name of Equus johnstoni. It didn't take very long for the name Okapia to appear.