A trip to the zoo

Dad was here for a couple of days, and among the places we went was the Boise zoo.

Each visitor got a "coin" to vote on what animal the zoo would send a grant to support. Up for consideration were the giant panda, polar bear, and Andean spectacle bear. The organizations for the first 2 were international ones, and everyone knows about the plight of those animals. The 3rd is less well known, and the organization for it was one attached to the San Diego zoo. I figured they could use a bit more help than the other two.

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Like just about everyone else's zoo pictures, I'm shooting through "glass". Some turned out better than others. This bobcat was clearly posing.

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The ocelot had eaten a bit earlier and had settled down for a nap. In fact, most of the zoo residents were brighter than the people - it was hot, so they laid in the shade.

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At the feed the animals spot, the goats were doing a fair amount of head butting and other tussling.

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A meerkat doing what meerkats do.

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There was a butterfly exhibit this month, only a buck a person more. Being Saturday it was crowded, so I didn't get the leisure I would have liked for photos. :shrug:

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We got giraffes fairly recently. It had to wait until a local construction company figured out how to build a good giraffe barn (to shelter them in the winter) and build it.

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The Komodo dragon was one of the few things that was moving around in the heat. It definitely started reacting to the people watching it.

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The tortoise was speedy that day. I went back perhaps half an hour later, and he'd moved inside to his den.

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Lady Amherst's pheasant. One of several colorful varieties.

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Victoria crowned pigeon. I can see the crown, but I wonder what Victoria thought of the honor.

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nice shots. I like the ocelot sleeping shot and the butterflies.

Lots of lovlies with nice comps in this set!
I also like the butterflies, shot 2 of Komodo and who doesn't love a cutie meerkat

Lovely set, Quiet1! I too love the butterflies but that little crowned pigeon is just adorable!

Nice variety of pictures. Love the one of the meerkat.

Thank you, Bambi, Marko, JAS and Asnow. I was pleased with how many of the photos turned out. I went in figuring that between the glass, heavy shade in the cages or bright sun in the open displays, I'd end up tossing most of them. I didn't manage to get any decent shots of the tigers, and the lions and snow leopards were hunkered down in cool spots where you couldn't get much. Maybe another day.