Continuing our trip through the Boise zoo…
Kente cloth hangs in the schoolhouse in the African Plains exhibit. Kente originated in Ghana, and the patterns in the cloth, as well as the colors, have symbolic meanings. Love the colors and patterns...they seem like visual songs, images of rhythms.
Here’s a mama and baby Hornbill. The baby’s beak looks almost too large for its little body. I read that the first two neck vertebrae are fused together in Hornbills, and scientists think it is biological compensation that evolved over time to help the birds carry such a heavy beak.
Ring-tailed lemurs from Madagascar. I happened to catch them in a “lemur ball,” a typical behavior where several animals cuddle together. And here’s an interesting bit of info from Wikipedia:
“The males perform a unique scent marking behavior called spur marking and will participate in stink fights by impregnating their tail with their scent and wafting it at opponents.”
Sounds like a group of warring politicians…
2 comments:
Fabulous zoo photos! I especially like the frog and lemurs. And the leopard. I've never been to the SF Zoo; the last zoo I visited was in Beijing and it was the most depressing place I've ever been. Just heartbreaking. I'm sure these animals are much better treated and have lots of room.
Thanks, Katie. :>) It was fun to take photos there! This zoo, although small, does a good job with caring for their animals and creating good spaces for them. Most U.S. zoos now try to create habitat spaces suitable for each type of animal instead of cages. And many are involved with conservation programs to preserve species that are endangered.
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