Henry Doorly Zoo - Bears, Tiger, Jaguar, Frog, Penguin

[guppiecat]

Continuing highlights from my recent zoo set.

These highlights include some playing I did with filters and photos of the penguin I got to pet. Imagine the last two as if they are in the lolcat style. I didn't want to actually put the text on the photos.




Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) - Likes long walks in the woods, granola for breakfast, mead after dinner and the occasional evisceration.


American Black Bear (Ursus americanus) - I always forget how long the arms and legs of a bear actually are. They look nothing like teddy bears.


Siberian tiger (Panthera tigris altaica) - "Yeah, I guess you can take my picture... just be quick about it"


Jaguar (Panthera onca) - See, I try so hard to put my lights and get an interesting shot, and then the sun comes out and makes all my work look like crap.


Jaguar (Panthera onca) - Comandante Jaguara leads the revolt against capitalistic imperialism.


Jaguar (Panthera onca) - Somebody wants a cuddle


Jaguar (Panthera onca) - Really, when you look at it, he's got a lotta nose for just one cat.


Puerto Rican Crested Toad (Peltophryne lemur) - I don't know about you, but I just don't see the similarity to lemurs.


African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) - "I has a birdie" / "I has a hooman"


African Penguin (Spheniscus demersus) - "Birdie! Birdie! Birdie!" / "*sigh*, not again."

Comments

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

Was the grizzly bear an adult? It looks almost...sweet. Which is not the reputation of anything named "horribilis".

[guppiecat]

Yes, it's a full grown adult. The "horribilis" comes from the actions. Since the grizzlies had not encountered many humans (other than native Americans, who wisely ran away), when they met the Europeans, they acted like bears.

When the Europeans compared their behavior to that of their own brown bears, from whom they had selected for docility (by killing all the violent ones for a thousand years) and that of the naturally more docile black bear, they seemed pretty horrible to them.

The bears we encounter today, even in the grizzly population are significantly less horrible than they were, largely because we've spent the last four hundred years killing the really nasty ones.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

So much for "natural" selection. I have to admit that I haven't really thought a lot about bears for a long time, and it never occurred to me that American bears would be wilder than European ones. That makes a lot of sense, though.

So is that poor penguin subjected to small children all day long? That's a tough life.

[guppiecat]

Nah, when zoo animals have to "work", it's seldom more than an hour... often less.

That makes sense too, as a cranky animal is often a bitey animal, and parents whose children have been devoured tend not to remain zoo members.

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

LOL, yeah, I guess not! I hope they get extra-nice food as payment for the time they spend with the over-enthusiastic kids.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I love the commandante jaguera!

[mplsfish.livejournal.com]

I really liked these in the slide show format, cause it was smooth and loaded faster. But I don't get your clever comments that way. When I click on each one, it takes forever.

[guppiecat]

If you click on the "set" link, you'll go to a page that has them all in "small" size, but displays my comments underneath them.

I do not know of a system that displays them large and beautiful and still has my comments, sorry.