Tuesday, September 27, 2011

A Morning at the Zoo

I had the pleasure of accompanying a friend to the zoo this past Saturday morning. He had the inside scoop on when the trainer would be visiting and feeding some treats to the Malayan Tigers. I enjoyed watching their behavior as they waited for the food to be tossed. If you are not familiar with Malayan tigers, here is a link to the WWF website for more information.
Connor and Christopher were born in April 2011 and have had a few months to grow. Their feet still look over-sized for their body. I am sure they will grow into them! I have never heard a cub squeak the way they did when they were begging for the trainer to throw the food. It was a sound unlike what I would expect to come out of those wide mouths.

I don't remember if it was Christopher or Connor that was more demanding. One of the cubs was more vocal and the other seemed more laid back. I was told that one can tell the two apart by looking at the stripes above their eyes. I guess I need to spend more time with them because when I got home I couldn't see the difference!

Mom is absolutely beautiful. She doesn't look like she had twins five and a half months ago.


We also visited the hippos and the mom and baby there were quite active this morning also. The abstract quality of this photograph prompted me to share it with you here.

I look forward to visiting the zoo in the coming weeks to watch Connor and Christopher develop. There are times when it takes hours to catch a glimpse of the cubs. Knowing when the keeper will be there to draw them out with treats is a definite advantage to viewing.
Here is the link to more photographs from this visit:  Zoo Image Gallery