As we entered the zoo, we realized we had only 1 hour 45 minutes to see everything we wanted to see before they closed and so we made some quick plans as to what we wanted to see and what we could do without.
The Asiatic Lions were just inside and so we couldn't help but take a quick look at the big cats as we wandered further into the zoo. This was actually the parting shot of the great Lion but it was the best one we could get through the barrier between him and us . . he almost looked sad that we had to leave.
Just past the lions was an enclosure for the Red Panda. While we couldn't see him on the way through, we did see him on the way back.
We were also able to find a poster as to what he is supposed to look like which is what helped us actually locate him.
We wanted to see Monkey Jungle the most, but we were going to pass by Reptile House and Bug World. At first we opted out of Reptile House and then we recalled it would hold such things as Tree Frogs and so we had to double back for a quick tour. While there wasn't "tree frogs" perse, we did see the most brightly colored, but very deadly, dart frogs.
That idea being met, we were on to Monkey Jungle. Monkey Jungle didn't disappoint. They've done a nice job of providing both interior and exterior enclosures that provide environments similar to their natural habitats. And special bonus, we can walk through an enclosure for the ring-tailed lemurs.
For any of you who've seen the movie Madagascar the ring-tailed lemurs are the ones that were doing the dancing and singing. We didn't see any of that kind of excitement but they were still really cool to watch.
Now we really had to skate through the rest of the zoo. So, on to Seal & Penguin Coasts. The Penguins weren't doing much today but then again it was quite warm and they were into their nesting season as we understand it. The seals on the other hand were having a great time swimming with one another which didn't provide us much to look at up top, until this nice seal took pity on the spectators and decided to pose for his photo op.
And then we had the opportunity to view the seals as they swam and we realized that these were the ones putting on the show because they had the same repeated swim pattern to maximize being viewed by the underwater public. Showoffs!
From there we really needed to fly, so off to the Wallace Aviary where we saw several birds that I was previously unfamiliar with including the Victoria Crowned Pigeon (which is about 4x the size of a standard pigeon) . And for some reason I move out of the way when this bird comes strutting toward me.
As we were forced to fly the coop from the aviary we were left with 30 minutes to see some of the outdoor enclosures before they closed the zoo completely and shooed us out. As we wandered back we ran across the Squirrel Monkeys. This fascinated us for some time as they were small, agile, cute and adorable . . and there were babies too.
Recognizing that time was escaping us quickly, we crossed the zoo another way and found a running time-trial for the kids. Knowing that David used to run, we couldn't help but encourage him to take the trials. I'm happy to record that he made 25 KmH and that is with his slightly still bummed ankle.
We found our way to the Meerkats. Kindly, their "on watch" meerkat posed for photos. Of course he had to make himself look fierce and cunning.
After we cut through the gardens to try to avoid any of the staff who had started corralling public and herding them towards the doors, we found the Prairie Dogs. They were so cute. The ones that weren't taking a nap, were playing and the ones that weren't playing which was about 1/2 were standing up on their hind legs at our approach, almost as a welcome.
The lovely wire you see crossing the above shot is to keep predatorial birds from snatching the cuties from their outdoor habitat.
With that, we'd been found and were being herded toward the front. All in all, it was a great time. For all the photos taken at the Bristol Zoo, please view the following slideshow.
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