The Dallas Zoo

Dan & I went to the Dallas Zoo on Sunday and had a terrific time playing with our new camera. It seems to be spring here in Texas and the weather was perfect for this fun outing. We took the train down to the zoo and snapped up a bunch of pics before the battery died in the camera.


I have never been a huge zoo fan, as I always feel so sorry for the animals that seem cramped in small cages. I would have to say this was the best visit to a zoo I have had in a long time. Over 80% of the zoo animals did not seem cramped or stressed in their habitats. There were indeed many new "habitats" at the Dallas zoo. The chimps and tigers had a pretty fun place to hang, as did many of the smaller mammals such as the meerkats,and gibbons. Still cramped were the elephants, cheetahs, rhinos, and giraffes. We can only hope that plans are in the works for these guys to get a much better crib. Dan says he only feels sorry for the animals that are accustomed to large ranges to graze on and the predators such as the cats. Many of the smaller and more docile critters are probably cool with being in a place where they will not get eaten. After all,in the wild your whole goal is to find a place where the food is plentiful and your enemies are few.

Also new at the zoo were lots of bronze sculptures, and groovy art-signage like the lighted murals below.



Maybe next month we will try to visit Fort Worth to see what is new at their Zoo. I am posting a very quick filter driven sketch of a chimp we shot while playing around. The Chimps were very cool and laid back. They were grooming each other, napping and having a very lazy Sunday.