Enjoying Fall At The Denver Zoo

As I mentioned in yesterday's blog post, I went to the Denver Zoo Wednesday morning to take photographs of the 4 new lion cubs. After my first visit to what the zoo calls Pahali Ya Mwana (place of the young), I walked around the zoo and took photographs of some of the other animals out and about. Fall is the best time to take those photos, since it is cooler, and the animals tend to sit in the sun, as opposed to the summer, when they hide in the shade and spend the day sleeping. I took the photograph on the left of one of the female lions, who was kind enough to pose for a portrait at Predator Ridge, the lion compound at the Denver Zoo.

I usually go to the zoo in the afternoons, but since this time I went in the morning to make sure I got to see the lion cubs (they were supposed to be outside only until 11:30), I was able to watch a couple of what the zoo calls "Animal Demonstrations," including the one showing the elephant in the photo on the right doing a series of tricks for the crowd. It was kind of fun to see, but right before the show began, that elephant took a large dump right where the demonstration took place. It was hard not to keep your eye on that mess to see whether that elephant would step in it as he did his set of tricks. And surprise! He didn't!

In addition to the four new lion cubs, there are a number of other babies at the zoo, including the giraffe in the photograph on the left. Named Thorn, no doubt after the hero in James W. Hall's series of adventure novels, he is now a little over 7-month-old but growing fast. The thing about zoo babies is that they are very curious about everything, and so tend to stare right into the camera when I take their photograph, no doubt wondering what the hell I am doing.

Another baby at the zoo is Siska, who is now two years old. Its mother, Eirina, seems to be very protective of her, as seen in the photograph on the right. Perhaps too protective. She did not let go of that poor little orangutan the entire time I was there. I predict in future years Siska will be spending a lot of time with the zoo psychologist. And yes, Eirina is indeed wearing a blanket on her head, and has been doing that every time I see her at the zoo. I think the zoo psychologist might want to have a chat with her, too.

The mandrill in the photograph on the left might or might not be Kesi, born in 2019, which would make her 6 years old. What is not in question is that Kesi is full of energy, climbs all over the place, and is constantly in motion. It will probably not surprise you that the object of most of her adventures these days is finding food to eat. That seems to be the favorite pastime of most of the animals at the Denver Zoo. In any case, it was a fun day at the zoo and surprisingly packed for a weekday. Young, old, families, you name it. And the best part of the zoo, besides the animals, is that it is like a park, meticulously landscaped, making for a very pleasant day. Be sure to stop by and enjoy the fall weather there while you can.