The new penquin exhibit is amazing. If we'd have been willing to break the rules, we could've actually touched them. The four in the photo to the right are actually standing like this... it is not a mirror. I couldn't believe it. They were standing like little penquin soldiers.
And, see the brown fuzzy one in this photo, that is a baby penguin. The small penquin behind him is his Mom. The keeper said it would be another two months before the baby lost it's fur an looked normal. It was huge compared to its mom but its mom was constantly there to protect it.
Right past the penguins was the puffin exhibit. There were tons of them and some of them looked like Jack Nicolsen. They were hilarious.
Next came the polar bear. (Love them!) The first time we walked by he was asleep.
When we came back, he was wide awake and adorable. I know they aren't really cuddly (I've seen the "polar bear attacks" video on TV), but they seem so cuddly. Love the black pads of their feet and their inquisitive (mmmm... you look like you'd be tasty) look.
The grizzlies were napping and chilling out, too. It's hard to see in this photo (right), but there is another grizzly napping behind the one standing up. They are HUGE and their claws scare me.
Flamingos, gazelles and various other grazing animals were next on the path. I can't remember all the names without the help of my personal docent (JTC)... But you get the idea!
I'm sure you recognize most of them: camels, zebras, leapords, tigers, tortoises and lions... Lions, tigers and bears, OH MY! **wink**
The St. Louis Zoo also has two pregnant Asian elephants. When we walked through the elephant area, one of their keepers was giving a talk. Chet knew everything there was to know about the day-to-day life of a St. Louis Zoo elephant. It was fascinating.
And, even before we walked up to the elephant area we could hear spashing and bellaring... as we rounded the corner we could see one of the elephants taking a bath and cooling off. It was right there in front of us.
Amazing.
At the end of our adventure, we wandered into / through the insectarium. There were tons of cool creepy crawly things... and then at the end was a butterfly exhibit.
Walking through it was like walking into a fairytale. Butterflies were chasing each other around and flying all over the place.
It was amazing... if only the battery of my camera hadn't finally given out you'd see many more photos than this!
At around 3:30, we'd finally made it through the entire zoo. So, we made our obligatory stop at the gift shop to purchase arm bands that said "Animals Always" for only $1. (I think the Nashville Zoo should do something like this as a fundraiser... I'm sure they're cheap to get and everyone could afford to buy one, too. Awareness for the zoo AND money to feed the animals! Cool idea.)
These two animals had a GREAT time at the St. Louis Zoo... I only wish I could show you more!
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