For the love of all wild things: zoo

Showing posts with label zoo. Show all posts

2013/08/25

Audubon Park, New Orleans

This is will the final post from my New Orleans trip. I presented my research on Wednesday (July 31) afternoon and we left New Orleans the following morning, so Tuesday was my last opportunity to explore New Orleans.

Based on the recommendation from one of my supervisors, I woke up extra early on Tuesday morning and took the streetcar through the famous Garden District and arrived at Audubon Park to do some wildlife-watching.

The first thing I saw at the park was this beautiful garden and fountain. There were some Monarch butterflies visiting the flowers and I was planning on taking some photos, but there was a strange individual talking to himself so I gave up on that idea.

Wild birds and captive mammals at the Peterborough Zoo

I unintentionally walked all the way to school today because I kept missing the buses at the stops that I want to get on. Plus, I detoured a bit and went to the Peterborough Riverview Zoo to photograph the animals.

A Mourning Dove, one of the two "wild" animals that I photographed today. I have heard many cardinals singing nowadays. Must be getting closer to Spring.

Visitng Riverview Park and Zoo for the second time

I biked to school early this morning to meet with my supervisor to talk about a potential paper that we can write. In the afternoon, since I didn't bring the power cord for my laptop to school today, I had to go back home early once the battery was drained. When I bike to school, I have to pass through the Riverview Zoo, so I decided to stop at the zoo today and take some photos.

Serval cats (Leptailurus serval) enjoying the afternoon sun.

St. Louis Zoo and Insectarium

After the field project presentations and clean-up the field equipments in the lab, all the students decided to go to St. Louis Zoo (free, by the way) to pay Mr. Ed Spevak and the insectarium a visit.

Before heading back to the apartment to put my stuff away first, I came across this Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) on the sidewalk in the drizzling rain. I gently picked it up and put it on a tree where it has more shelter. What a beauty!

We were at the zoo with only about 1.5 hours to spare before closing, so we only had time to visit the insectarium.

Riverview Park and Zoo, Peterborough

One of the main attractions of Peterborough is probably Riverview Park and Zoo, operated by the Peterborough Utilities Group. It is quite an interesting place considering that it is completely free and actually has a fair number of animals to make it a good place to visit if you have a couple of hours to spend.

The first animal that I saw was a Monarch butterfly flying beside the playground. I didn't see a whole lot of them the limited number of days that I have been here.

The classic M on Monarch.

Royal Ontario Museum & Toronto Zoo

My friend and I visited the Royal Ontario Museum two days ago. It's a great place to visit as a tourist, plus the building from the outside looks absolutley ridiculous, but keep in mind that it is quite impossible to tour the entire museum in one day, so pick your exhibits wisely.

One of the Chinese art pieces that I really like - from the 7th century, Three Kingdoms Period.

Yesterday, I visited the Toronto Zoo by myself. Having spent some time in Taipei Zoo and working behind the scene and along side zookeepers and vets, as well as taking care of animals this summer, I began to view the zoo from a different perspective. I no longer looked at it as a place of just animals in display, but looking at the behaviors of the captive animals, the enclosure set-ups, and sometimes peeking behind the back to see the work areas of the zookeepers.

As always, here are some photos to share. I tried avoiding taking them in their enclosures (omitting or cropping out the wires or fences) and focusing on the animal's behaviors or reactions in their captive environment. Yesterday's weather was nice and cool, with some downpours here and there, so the animals were either sheltering from the rain or taking a nap when the sun came out.

Polar Bear

Turtles/Tortoise Workshop in Taipei Zoo

This past weekend, my co-workers and I attended a special workshop hosted at Taipei Zoo titled "From the International Cooperation for the Conservation and Reproduction of the Burmese Star Tortoise (Geochelone platynota) - A Discussion of the Links Between In-situ and Ex-situ Conservation Activities for the Endangered Tortoise". Aside from the staff and researchers from Taipei Zoo, other special guests were from: Herpetological Associates, Inc., Kadorrie Farm & Botanic Garden, Behler Chelonian Center, and others.

Entrance sign.

The abstract booklet and other pamphlets that we received.

Mr. Paul Crow from Kadorrie Farm & Botanic Garden giving a presentation on the conservation of the critically endangered Cuora trifasciata in Hong Kong.

My co-workers paying attention to the lecturers.

Besides learning the different types of turtles and tortoises and the steps taken to conserve them, whether In-situ or Ex-situ, I also used the time to visit friends from last year's internship, as well as touring the zoo.