April At The Zoo

I went to the Denver Zoo last week to take a few photographs. It was a good day for it - partly cloudy with mild temperatures - and so all of the animals were out and about, enjoying the day, including the giraffe in the photograph on the left. Most of the time at that compound the sun is shining directly into the lens, ruining the chance of a decent photo, but thanks to the cloud cover, I got a nice portrait of this giraffe.

My friend the tiger was also out and about, pacing it's compound, which the Denver Zoo calls The Edge. The tiger did not look at me as it paced back and forth, keeping its head focused on the ground, but after what seemed like hours, it finally looked up, allowing me to take the photograph on the right.

The four bachelor lions were hanging out on Predator Ridge, one of them looking me in the eye, posing for a portrait, which was very kind of him to do. I was able to capture three in one photograph, as seen in the photo on the left, while the fourth was sitting up on a rock, sniffing the air, no doubt wishing he could go next door and visit with the hyenas, who I am sure would have loved some company. I know I feature a photograph of one of these lions whenever I visit the zoo, but of all the animals at the Denver Zoo, they are the ones who are always most willing to be photographed.

And finally, even one of the two Ilamas at the zoo was willing to pose for a portrait. Most of the time they have their heads buried in a feed bag, and not interested in anything else. I am not sure if this is Fernando or Jorge, but to me it makes no difference. As long as I get one of them to pose, I am good. It was definitely a good day at the zoo. However, once summer begins and it is in the 90s every day, the zoo will need to have their interns get into those cages and compounds, wake those animals up, and prod them out of the shadows with a stick so that everyone can take some nice photos. Better start training those interns now.