After Playing with the Taliger,
we were taken on a behind the scenes
tour of the zoo.
The park has approx. 185 big cats,
but there are other animals, too.
Before we went, we had read online
that the fences were 'sketchy' and some
considered the zoo somewhat unsafe.
We found the fences to be solid,
but there was not much of a barrier
between the fences and the sidewalks,
so guest could easily stick their fingers
into the cages if they wished.
This is one area, that did have a barrier,
but as you can see - Alyssa was able
to reach out and play with the baby
bear anyway.
Everyone in our group was smart enough
not to stick their hand into this
fellow's cage!
We were encouraged to touch
the camel, though.
He was very friendly!
He even gave some of us, kisses!
I'm not so sure Alyssa likes his kisses!
And I'm not sure how Andrew feels
about this - but that camel is SMILING!
This lion resides at the zoo owner's
house. He's in a fenced yard and
he loves attention.
He rubbed up against the fence begging
to be petted. I think it would have
been perfectly safe to pet him, too.
BUT - we had told the children to keep
their hands away from the fences, so
we had to set an example and
keep our own hands away as well.
BUT - That big lion shares a yard with
two little weenie dogs.
If you'll look under that slanted roof
where the lion lays you will see
one of them. The dogs and the lion
were raised together and have
remained friends.
I think that HUGE lion is just
one big baby kitty!
And you can see above just how close
we were to him.
At this zoo, the animals looked
well fed, and happy. Cages were clean
and secure. It should be perfectly safe
to visit and enjoy. Just use some
common sense and keep your hands
out of the cages.
AND - If you take children, supervise them.
