A Day at the Zoo
JustnorthofBatonRougeistheBatonRougeZoo.
This year (Saturday, August 24th) the Zoo hosted its 14th Annual Zoo Run Run (yes, Run Run). The event, presentedbyLamarAdvertising,allowsparticipantsto enjoy the scenery as they walk or run through Baton RougeZooandportionsofGreenwoodPark.
All proceeds from the race support the Baton Rouge Zooandinternationalcheetahconservatione orts.
Today we will be running 5km through the zoo often in verycloseproximitytosomeveryinterestingcritters.
Twoamateurcellphoneownerstryingtotakeaselfie.
At Baton Rouge Zoo people get to connect with animals, including tigers, gira es, rhinos and alligators.Theworld-classRealmoftheTiger,Flamingo Cove, Giants of the Islands, Safari Playground, L'aquarium de Louisiane, and Kids Zoo exhibits o er funforallages.
There were some fast runners here today. As the Overall Finish list shows, Nick Accardo from New Orleans completed the 5km in 16 minutes, 57.7 secondsataunitconfusing5.28minutepermile.
Jill did very well, finishing 183rd with a time of 31 minutes,39.3seconds.
Geo followed up in 227th place in 33 minutes, 52.9 seconds.Heran5th (of11)inhis55–59-year-oldclass. American running events have many age categories, a featurethatgivesmorepeopleachancetowinprizefor theire orts.ThisyearJillplaced3rd (of10)inthe50–54year-oldclass.
A Day at the Zoo
Asweran,wehadlittlechanceofgettingupcloseand personal with the Zoo’s residents. With the hard work done, we strolled along the course and got to meet somefriends
We have never seen Cassowaries in the wild in Australia, so it was interesting to see one in the flesh, albeit at a zoo in another hemisphere. We didn’t feed thisfinebirdbutusedthepromiseoffoodtolureMr.C tothefence.
Cassowaries have a reputation of being a force to be reckoned with! If an intruder threatens their territory, they can deliver a lethal kick. On the front of their powerful legs are three long toes, with the inside toenailreachinglengthsofupto12centimetres.
The plains zebra is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. Its range is fragmented, but spans much of southern and eastern Africa south of the Sahara. Six or seven subspecies have been recognized, including the quaggawhichwasthoughttobeaseparatespecies.
Plains zebras are intermediate in size between the larger Grévy's zebra and the smaller mountain zebra and tend to have broader stripes than both. Their habitat is generally, but not exclusively, treeless grasslandsandsavannawoodlands,bothtropicaland temperate. Zebras are preyed upon by lions and spottedhyenas,Nilecrocodilesand,toalesserextent, leopards,cheetahsandAfricanwilddogs.
Plains zebras are a highly social species, forming harems with a single stallion, several mares and their recent o spring; bachelor groups also form. Groups may come together to form herds. The animals keep watch for predators; they bark or snort when they see apredatorandtheharemstallionattackspredatorsto defendhisharem.
The reticulated gira e is a species of gira e native to the Horn of Africa. It is di erentiated from other types of gira es by its coat, which consists of large, polygonal(or squared),block-likespots, whichextend
A Day at the Zoo
onto the lower legs, tail and face. Up to 6 meters in height, the reticulated gira e is the largest species of gira e and the tallest land animal in general. Its population stronghold is primarily within Kenya where there are approximately 8,500 individuals living in the wild. In both captivity and the wild, there are 15,785 individualsacrosstheworld.
Reticulated gira es can interbreed with other gira e speciesincaptivityorinthewild.
Louisiana is built on a swamp. These shallow draft airboats (caged, petrol engine driven fan mounted behind the driver) can access even the most remote locations. This static display featured the commonly used454chevymotor.
I’mcurious toknowwhatthe Zoo sta wanted visitors todoifamemberoftheircollectionDIDescape.
The Chilean flamingo's plumage is pinker than the slightly larger greater flamingo, but less so than the Americanflamingo.Itcanbedi erentiatedfromthese speciesbyitsgrayishlegswithpinkjoints,bythelarger amount of black on thebill(more than half), and also by being a foot shorter than the American flamingo. Young chicks may have no sign of pink coloring whatsoever, but instead remain gray or peach. Young chicks will slowly gain their pink color as pigments calledcarotenoidsfrom their diet accumulate in their feathers.Chileanflamingosreachsexualmaturityat 6 yearsandhaveoneofthelongestlifespansofanybird, living up to 50 years in the wild and up to 40 years in captivity.
The Aldabra tortoise was one of the first species to be protected to ensure its survival. Conservationists of thelate1800'salongwiththegovernorofMauritiusset aside a captive breeding population in Mauritius as wellasprotectingtheAldabraAtoll.
Adult male Aldabra tortoises can weigh over 220kg whileahatchlingweighsaslittleas85grams.
A Day at the Zoo
Thisemuis along wayawayfromhome.Along withits friend, both looked well cared for and healthy. It was goodtoseethelevelofanimalcareattheZoo.
This Andean condor is a“South American New World vulture”. It is found in the Andes mountains and adjacent Pacific coasts of western South America. With a maximum wingspan of 3.3 m and weight of 15 kg,theAndeancondorisoneofthelargestflyingbirds in the world and is generally considered to be the largestbirdofprey.
It is a large black vulture with a ru of white feathers surroundingthebaseoftheneckand,especiallyinthe male, large white patches on the wings. The head and neck are nearly featherless, and are a dull red color, which may flush and therefore change color in response to the bird's emotional state. In the male, thereisawattleontheneckandalarge,darkredcomb
or caruncle on the crown of the head. The female condorissmallerthanthemale.
Thecondorisprimarilyascavenger,feedingoncarrion such as large deer or cattle carcasses (roadkill). It nests at elevations of up to 5,000 m, generally on inaccessible rock ledges. One or two eggs are usually laid, and it is one of the world's longest-living birds, withalifespanofover70yearsinsomecases.
Nutria are large semi-aquatic rodents indigenous to South America. In the 1930’s nutrias were imported into Louisiana for the fur farming industry and were released, either intentionally or accidentally, into the Louisiana coastal marshes. Nutria are herbivores and feed particularlyon wetlandplants. They have caused extensivedamagetoLouisiana’scoastalwetlandsdue totheirfeedingactivity.
refhttps://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/page/nutria
The Zoo’s American Alligator looks very lethargic, particularly when compared to Australia’s saltwater crocodiles. The name alligator comes from the Spanish el lagarto, which means "the lizard". Record size for an alligator was 19 feet 2 inches, nearly 2,000 lbs,andwasharvestedinLouisianain1890.
The American alligator was one of the first North American animals listed on the Endangered Species
A Day at the Zoo
List.Duetoconservatione orts,it wasoneofthefirst tobetakeno thelist.
The Indian rhinoceros is the largest of the three Asian rhinoceroses. It can weigh between 1,800 and 2,700 kg, stand 2 metres high at the shoulder and be 3.5 metresinlength.
The Indianrhinocerosis equivalentinsizetothe white rhinoceros of Africa and is distinguishable from the Javan rhinoceros by its greater size, the presence of a large horn, tubercles on its skin, and a di erent arrangementofskinfolds.AnIndianrhinocerosfemale will conceive again quickly if she loses her calf. Tigers kill about 10–20 percent of calves, but they rarely kill calves older than one year, so those Indian rhinoceroses that survive past that point are invulnerable to nonhuman predators. The Indian rhinoceros fights with its razor-sharp lower outer incisor teeth, not with its horn. Such teeth, or tusks, canreach13cminlengthamongdominantmalesand inflict lethal wounds on other males competing for accesstobreedingfemales.
Not too ferocious, (behind a thick sheet of glass) this Sumatranisthesmallestsubspeciesoftiger.Thereare fewerthan500ofthesebeautifulcatsleftinthewild.
Australia even gets a mention with a bird display. My recollection is that the emu and cassowary may have been the only Australian natives present at the zoo at thetime.
Whatbetterwaytofinishadayo thantopilotour littleMinibacktotheapartmentsforsomewellearnt rest.