Summer At The Zoo

I went to the Denver Zoo this past Thursday afternoon to take some photographs. Unfortunately, summer in Denver is usually not the best time to do that. Temperatures are usually in the 90s and the sky cloudless, and so many of the animals hide in the shade and spend their time sleeping. However, the elephants were an exception this Thursday. A short time before, the elephant in the photo on the left was scooping up dirt through its trunk and throwing it on its back to stay cool. Then, it decided to head to the pond, where it started taking water through its trunk instead, drinking a bit of it, and then blowing the rest of it on its back. A much better idea, if I say so myself.

The zebras, however, were not venturing any further than the doorway of the Zebra House, as seen in the photograph on the right. The Zebra House is, of course, air conditioned, which helps explain their behavior. That and Animal Planet on the cable TV. Do you think some of these zoo animals might be a bit spoiled these days? After all, zebras and many other of these animals are native to countries in Africa located along the equator, and so shouldn't they be able to adapt to Denver's hot weather? I think the Denver Zoo needs to have their volunteers go into that compounds and push those zebras out the door and keep them outside whenever the zoo is open. It's only fair to zoo visitors, right?

Both the lions and tigers were asleep in the shade the entire time I was at the zoo. The lions all had their backsides to me, which does not make for good photography. The tiger in the photograph on the left was zoned out on the catwalk that connects the two compounds. I think that every day, after those zoo volunteers push those zebras out the door, they should head into both the lion and tiger compounds and lightly prod them with a pole to get them moving around a bit. It would certainly make for good action photos. What could go wrong?