Lions, Tigers and Bears...Oh, my!

Time to hit the books today...only I discovered that I paced myself much better this weekend, and while I had a fair amount of studying left to do, it wasn't enough to fill all day.  Which was a very nice surprise, indeed!

So about 2:30, when I was going stir crazy from sitting in front of textbooks and the computer, I decided I needed to go outside to get some fresh hour and stretch my legs.  Where to go...?  How 'bout the zoo?

All of 5 minutes away, this seemed like the perfect neighborhood exploration to undertake.  This time I carefully put my camera in my bag before heading out, and off I went.

Only to discover upon arrival that I hadn't put the memory card back into my camera.  Argh!  Once again, my keitai cell phone camera saved the day.

So what did I discover?  I discovered LIONS, TIGERS and BEARS, Oh my!  And giraffes and ostriches and alligators and even penguins, all living right next door to me!  Here are some of the shots I took.

Just upon entering, there's this display of topiary.  Loved the frogs & turtles, but all the boxwood animals were imaginative.

These guys were really cute!

Taking a nap.  He yawned enormously right after I took this picture.  The lions next door were cat napping, too.

Giraffes really do have prehensile tongues!  I watched this one strip leaves off his lunchtime branch.

Penguins!  Lots & lots of penguin pictures because I LOVE penguins!  Even if these Humboldt penguins are far from home, they seemed to be enjoying their swimming!

Albino peacock or just a white peacock?  It was wandering the zoo grounds with some other peacocks with more typical coloring.

On my way back up the hill towards the entrance/exit, I noticed this fun mural underneath one of the stairways.  I like how the words for "Nogeyama Zoo" are included in the giraffe's patterning.

So there you have it - a visual record of my visit to Nogeyama Zoo.  What were my impressions overall?  Not bad for a big city zoo, and amazing for one with free admission.  The grounds are green and leafy, and very well kept.  There's lots of signage / info and for an actually rather small area square footage-wise, there are an amazing amount of displays.  The designers of the zoo really took good advantage of the hillside topography, too, so that you can often observe the animals both straight on and also from above.  The zoo keepers and docents are very present, offering guidance and Q&A sessions, and also there are scheduled events where they go more in depth in their educational outreach.  For small kids there's a petting zoo.  And there are a number of picnic areas for families to take advantage of.

Then there are the downsides to this zoo.  There were only two, really, and they are pretty much endemic to the institution.  One was that the place was jam-packed with families and it was nearly impossible to move without stepping on toddlers and little kids zipping around between displays.  But what else can you expect on a sunny Sunday afternoon?  The other was the animals' facilities.  They had space to move around and play, and they all looked healthy.  But they were very much caged, and the cages weren't all that spacious.  Not cramped, but not spacious, either.  And only minimal amounts of natural habitat were included.  After having grown up with Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo, where the animals are given an unusual amount of space and ability to hide plus lots of natural habitat/plants, etc., going to a "regular" zoo is a little disheartening. 

Overall, though, I enjoyed my afternoon and came back ready to polish off the last of my homework assignments.  Mission accomplished!