As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the Denver Zoo this past Thursday to take a few photographs, but since it was so hot and sunny, a great many of the animals were sleeping in the shade or inside their shelters to escape the heat. An exception were the orangutans, who were outside wandering around their compound, including the orangutan in the photograph on the left. There was a new orangutan baby born back in February, but I think this one might be a few years old, no doubt the orangutan version of a teenager. As you can tell from the photograph, it does seem to be a bit dazed- looking. Perhaps too much time in the sun?
The monkey in the photograph on the right looks kind of depressed to me. I am hoping the Denver Zoo is progressive enough to have a zoo psychologist on staff to get inside the compound and help these animals with their issues. After all, it cannot be easy being locked up for life like that, not knowing why. Perhaps zoo employees could take the animals with issues to their homes for the weekend once in a while, giving them a change of scene. I will e-mail Denver Zoo officials and suggest this. I am sure they will be very receptive to the idea.
The photograph on the left is of Thorn, a 4-month-old baby giraffe, resting on the floor of the Giraffe House, next to its mother. If you ask me, it looks pretty damn tall for a 4-year-old, but what do I know? I grew up in the South Side Brainerd neighborhood of Chicago, where giraffe sightings were very rare. I think giraffes were more of a North Side thing. Those North Shore millionaires love their exotic pets, after all. In any case, the doors of the Giraffe House were open, but all the giraffes evidently preferred to be inside, away from the sun and the 90-degree temperatures. However, I definitely think Thorn's mother should make him go out and play once in a while, or the next thing you know, it will be staying inside all-day-long playing video games.
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