San Diego Zoo

Lions

And Tigers

And Bears oh my

And of course the creme de la creme of the bears are Pandas. They are adorable and are of course on loan from China. I am not sure when they have to go back but I am sure it will be way too soon in the eyes of the zoo keepers.

This is the baby of the bunch. He is still on his mother's milk and not yet ready for the bamboo diet.



Those eyes are irresistible.

And the Koolas.

Most were sleeping and all wrapped up in themselves like this one.

If you look closely you may be able to see that this momma has a joey (baby) wrapped in her arms.

Munching on greens

I think they have four elephants at the zoo. It is interesting how they care for them.

You look at this and think...cages yuck. Not so. This is where the keepers do all of the elephant care. The keepers never ever enter the elephant's area, instead they 'invite' the elephants into the care area for all touch, baths etc. The doors are always open so the elephants are able to come and go in this area as they please with the keepers separated from them by the cage. The reason for this makes so much sense....if the keepers are in the elephant's area there is often negative interaction in that the keepers need to push the elephants so that they do not get too close etc.... This takes away the need for that so the interaction is always positive and fun for both the elephants and their keepers

This Meerkat smiled and posed quite nicely for his picture

There are many deer looking animals at the zoo and this little guy was snuggled right into his spot.

While riding the tram Jan and I spotted this great steeple. As I snapped the shot a plan was coming in for a landing.

Flamings are colorful and fun to watch

It was fun to watch them scatter

This fella has a very interesting face

And lots of color in this bird and his apple

Monkeys, always monkeys

I can't remember what kind of cat this is but it has webbed feet to allow it to swim

The Rhino blends right into his surroundings

We spent the entire day here and will return again next year.

I would like to express my sympathy to my cousin's the Biehn 'clan'. Steve's wife Jennie lost her battle with cancer this week. This family has had more than it's share of struggles over the years and my deepest sympathy goes out to Steve, his family and his siblings.