African Wildcat (Felis silvestris lybica)

Surprisingly, with all the zoos I’ve visited, this is the first African Wildcat I’ve seen. This is an interesting side effect of zoos working to save critically endangered species. The wildcat is rated “Least Concern”, so no one is working to actively breed it. I don’t know if this specific animal as a rescue, but if you want to see exotic non-rare species, rescue centers or zoos that work with law enforcement (working against the illegal pet trade) is the way to do it.

When you travel to different zoos, you really start to see many of the same species … those that are endangered but that can also probably be bred. The critically endangered animals that *might* be able to be bred are usually in breeding centers away from the public. Sadly, the critically endangered animals that cannot be bred, for whatever reason, are largely left to their own devices within a rapidly shrinking and worsening habitat.

So many of the animals I see are endangered, some are critically endangered, but the most critically endangered animals on the planet are ones that I will likely never be able to see. Still, I’m glad to see what I have been able to see.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

Sign

I am not an expert in sign design, but I think this system used at the Birmingham Zoo is fantastic. Yes, the reality of an ecosystem is far more complex than a 3-2-1 approach allows, but since the average person in the US has been lied to all their lives and forced away from science education, it’s one of the most effective systems I’ve seen for reaching the masses.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.

Red Fox

Zoo glass is well-designed for it’s primary purpose. It can keep big dangerous animals on one side and still allow big humans to gawk at them from the other side. It’ll scratch, but it’s not terrible. There’s a slight greenish cast to it, but most people don’t notice and photographers can easily correct for it (if they have full colour vision … those lucky bastards).

One problem with it, though, is that it’ll etch over time and get a bit cloudy. Also, since it’s rather thick, it’s harder to shoot at an angle without it really changing things on the sides of the image.

Sometimes, however, that works out OK.

Originally posted at stories.starmind.org.