An afternoon at the zoo

Wednesday
After a cool start it warmed up into a pleasant sunny day, and I thought it would be a good day to go to the zoo. The zoo is famous for its Spring flower display, but unfortunately after our hot weekend, the tulips were past their best, though as you can see from my collage, there were still some good ones about. The cougars, snow leopard and manatees were the stars today. I don’t know that I’ve seen the cougars and snow leopards move much before - they’re usually just lying there. However, today they were both quite active, providing several photo opportunities. The manatees also put on quite a show, and the light through the water was good, affording me some good shots. Since 1999, the Cincinnati Zoo has been partnering with the US Fish and wildlife Service, Sea World, and other groups in Florida, to bring injured and orphaned manatees to the Cincinnati Manatee Springs exhibit, to nurse them back to health and rehabilitate them. So far the Zoo has cared for 19 manatees - sometimes they have been affected by an unusual cold spell, but too often it is after contact with motor boats. One thing we didn’t see much of today were the birds - they are protecting them because of the bird flu going around the country.