One of the things that I love about the Maryland Zoo is that they really try to provide their animals with spacious, natural habitats. Certainly the Sitatunga, an arboreal antelope related to Bongos, are a great example of this. They share their generous space with a couple of species of birds, too. Today the Ground Hornbills were out and about. In habitats like this, animals are not just on display. You see them in ways more like you might in the wild. You have to look. You have to stop and linger and wait for opportunities. So many people just look, don't see shit, say stupid things like, "I guess there aren't any animals out there," and walk away. I see it all the time.
There is a smaller (but still nicely sized) second exterior yard where sometimes you will also see some of the Sitatungas. The last time I counted, the zoo is home to 12!--3 of which were born last Autumn. Today the bull was there. He's a beauty.
I passed this exhibit both entering and exiting the African Journey portion of the Maryland Zoo. On the way out there was a bit of a commotion. A keeper was present with one of those long extended trash grabbers. The object of her concern was a baby's pacifier. Unfortunately, it was also the object of interest of one of the Ground Hornbills! And there wasn't any sign that the keeper's initial approach at retrieving it was going to be successful. I feel confident that at some point after I moved on, a more direct assault to retrieve the potentially dangerous plastic gadget was required.
One of the things that I love about the Maryland Zoo is that they really try to provide their animals with spacious, natural habitats. Certainly the Sitatunga, an arboreal antelope related to Bongos, are a great example of this. They share their generous space with a couple of species of birds, too. Today the Ground Hornbills were out and about. In habitats like this, animals are not just on display. You see them in ways more like you might in the wild. You have to look. You have to stop and linger and wait for opportunities. So many people just look, don't see shit, say stupid things like, "I guess there aren't any animals out there," and walk away. I see it all the time.
I passed this exhibit both entering and exiting the African Journey portion of the Maryland Zoo. On the way out there was a bit of a commotion. A keeper was present with one of those long extended trash grabbers. The object of her concern was a baby's pacifier. Unfortunately, it was also the object of interest of one of the Ground Hornbills! And there wasn't any sign that the keeper's initial approach at retrieving it was going to be successful. I feel confident that at some point after I moved on, a more direct assault to retrieve the potentially dangerous plastic gadget was required.
No comments:
Post a Comment