Wild Animal Park Trip 12/31/2005

| | Comments (0)

Spent the day at the Wild Animal Park, an adjunct of the San Diego Zoo about thirty miles north. Our membership covers admission to both. New Years Eve we expected it to be less crowded than usual, and rain was forecast, so even better. It was wonderful, and just enough people that nobody minded talking to anybody else. Nice and cool and most of the animals loved it.



(If it bursts anyone's bubble to learn that it rain in San Diego, sorry. Once every three years whether we need it or not.)



This first one is what my dogs were bred to hunt, so it's a good thing they don't admit wiener dogs to the park. A nine month old badger. His mom was killed by a car up in Ventura County, and the zoo has been training him to put on these "animal encounters".



Red Tailed Hawks, one of whom was flying.



Bald Eagle.



California Condors. Wasn't too long ago these were extinct in the wild. They were down to nine total at one point. It was only about twenty years ago they were sucessfully bred in captivity - Sisquoc (the first hatched) made the news worldwide. This is where they bred most of what has been released (The Los Angeles Zoo also has a smaller program). Now they have a couple hundred. It looks like my girls are likely to grow up in a California where these can be seen not only in zoos, but in the wild.



There's a trail that goes round most of the park, but not that many folks walk it. It's probably two to three miles, and there's a lot of steep places, but you can see stuff there that people who won't walk can't. Got some pictures of the lion in the older lion enclosure. The white tiger was hiding today. But this is the first of two panoramic views I took from about halfway down the trail towards lion camp, just to give people who may not have visited an idea of how big the park is. The two people in the lower right are my wife and older daughter. The second photo was taken from exactly the same spot, turned about 120 degrees. Nor can you see the whole park from anywhere except airplanes; it's about 1800 acres (3 square miles).



This is one of several pictures I took at Lion Camp, an exhibit that's only a year or so old. Well laid out; they learned from Tiger River at the Zoo. I went around the corner and took another from a different vantage (no glass in the way, just a moat and wire) but decided not to upload it, and the exhibit as a whole is probably close to an acre.



Getting back to the more travelled areas of the park, this one is a pair of vultures, in Heart of Africa, and is very close, only cropped a little at the sides. Here's a family of gerenuk, and they were scampering about and playing. Despite coming from a hotter part of Africa, the relative cold didn't bother them but the keepers did bring them in. This little baby deer was only a week old, and I just happened to catch a view of him through a hole in the hedge, as he was doing his best to hide behind a rock from the normal viewing area. Finally, the public was being allowed to feed this giraffe, which explains why he was so interested in humans.



Another animal encounter, this one with an owl. I can't remember the type.



The nursery is a favorite stop at the Park, especially when the baby animals are getting fed. Here are a pair of Springboks. And here is a Transvaal Lion cub whose mother had a very difficult birth and had to be delivered caesarian. The posted literature strongly hinted that he's being trained as an animal ambassador, as they don't get canine companions for most animals. And yes, he did lick his keeper full in the face.



The final set of pictures I'm going to share are from the tram ride around the park. Always got to go on the WGASA Bush Line at some point, because the kids get tired of walking. So take my advice and wait until they do get tired, because the line is usually long and they get rambunctious otherwise. There were signs saying we had to be in line by three, and at 3:30 it looked like there was nobody left when our train pulled out, so we thought we were on the last one for the year, but one more pulled around the corner as we were walking to the car, so we weren't.



(There's a story, well known in San Diego, about how the WGASA part of the name came about. They held a contest among zoo employees, and one submitted it. It sounded african, so it won. And after it was publicized and opened, somebody asked him what it meant, and he informed them "Who Gives A S***, Anyway?")



One thing you encounter in the less travelled areas of the park are California Freeloaders. Birds and mammals who are native to the area, and come in to eat the Zoo's plants or swim in the Zoo's ponds. The Zoo actually encourages it a little. I understand we missed Canadian Geese by only a few days. But here are mule deer, a mother and her fawn. These were smallish for Mule deer, I've seen them much bigger in the Sierra Nevada. Next up is a male Golden Eagle, half of one of only fourteen known breeding pairs in California. They live on Zoo property, and the Zoo actually makes certain their nest is undisturbed, but they are not themselves zoo property.



Somali Wild Asses, the one front and center is only about a month old.



A female Serow, from Japan. The opposite enclosure had Chinese Goral, which are closely related, but no pictures good enough.



Three Ibex in the exhibit that used to house mountain goats. The guide said they couldn't catch these three, so they had to be careful as they were doing some work introductory to putting some different animals in. Looking at the exhibit, I want to know how they caught the rest - not to mention all of the sixty-odd mountain goats that used to be in there.



Still from the tram, here are some Rhinos! Rhinos evidently love the rain. The wetter it was, the more they played. Mom and two kids. The older is three years, the younger is about eleven months. Rhinos along the fence. Rhinos at the waterhole. Rhinos scuffling. Two of Rhinos playing, and no, the earth wasn't shaking.



Finally, from near the end of the ride, a Black Rhino mom and her young one. These are half the size of the white rhinos in previous photos.



UPDATE: HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY! (You can tell my wife and I are real party animals... not!) Off to bed.

Categories

Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious StumbleUpon Toolbar Stumble It!
Please be civil. Avoid profanity - I will delete the vast majority of it, usually by deleting the entire comment. To avoid comment spam, a comments account is required. They are freely available, and you can post comments immediately. Alternatively, you may use your Type Key registration, or sign up for one (They work at most Movable Type sites) All comments made are licensed to the site, but the fact that a comment has been allowed to remain should not be taken as an endorsement from me or the site. There is no point in attempting to foster discussion if only my own viewpoint is to be permitted. If you believe you see something damaging to you or some third party, I will most likely delete it upon request.
Logical failures (straw man, ad hominem, red herring, etcetera) will be pointed out - and I hope you'll point out any such errors I make as well. If there's something you don't understand, ask.
Nonetheless, the idea of comments should be constructive. Aim them at the issue, not the individual. Consider it a challenge to make your criticism constructive. Try to be respectful. Those who make a habit of trollish behavior will be banned.

Leave a comment

Copyright 2005-2024 Dan Melson All Rights Reserved

Search my sites or the web!
 
Web www.searchlightcrusade.net
www.danmelson.com


The Book on Mortgages Everyone Should Have
What Consumers Need To Know About Mortgages
What Consumers Need To Know About Mortgages Cover

The Book on Buying Real Estate Everyone Should Have
What Consumers Need To Know About Buying Real Estate
What Consumers Need To Know About Buying Real Estate Cover

Buy My Science Fiction and Fantasy Novels!
Dan Melson Amazon Author Page
Dan Melson Author Page Books2Read

Links to free samples here

The Man From Empire
Man From Empire Cover
Man From Empire Books2Read link

A Guardian From Earth
Guardian From Earth Cover
Guardian From Earth Books2Read link

Empire and Earth
Empire and Earth Cover
Empire and Earth Books2Read link

Working The Trenches
Working The Trenches Cover
Working the Trenches Books2Read link

Rediscovery 4 novel set
Rediscovery set cover
Rediscovery 4 novel set Books2Read link

Preparing The Ground
Preparing the Ground Cover
Preparing the Ground Books2Read link

Building the People
Building the People Cover
Building the People Books2Read link
Setting The Board

Setting The Board Cover

Setting The Board Books2Read link



Moving The Pieces

Moving The Pieces Cover
Moving The Pieces Books2Read link

The Invention of Motherhood
Invention of Motherhood Cover
Invention of Motherhood Books2Read link



The Price of Power
Price of Power Cover
Price of Power Books2Read link

The End Of Childhood
End Of Childhood cover
The End of Childhood Books2Read link

The Fountains of Aescalon
Fountains of Aescalon Cover
The Fountains of Aescalon Books2Read link



The Monad Trap
Monad Trap Cover
The Monad Trap Books2Read link

The Gates To Faerie
Gates To Faerie cover
The Gates To Faerie Books2Read link

Gifts Of The Mother
Gifts Of The Mother cover
Gifts Of The Mother Books2Read link
**********


C'mon! I need to pay for this website! If you want to buy or sell Real Estate in San Diego County, or get a loan anywhere in California, contact me! I cover San Diego County in person and all of California via internet, phone, fax, and overnight mail. If you want a loan or need a real estate agent
Professional Contact Information

Questions regarding this website:
Contact me!
dm (at) searchlight crusade (dot) net

(Eliminate the spaces and change parentheticals to the symbols, of course)

Essay Requests

Yes, I do topic requests and questions!

If you don't see an answer to your question, please consider asking me via email. I'll bet money you're not the only one who wants to know!

Requests for reprint rights, same email: dm (at) searchlight crusade (dot) net!
-----------------
Learn something that will save you money?
Want to motivate me to write more articles?
Just want to say "Thank You"?

Aggregators

Add this site to Technorati Favorites
Blogroll Me!
Subscribe with Bloglines



Powered by FeedBlitz


Most Recent Posts
Subscribe to Searchlight Crusade
http://www.wikio.com

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Dan Melson published on January 1, 2006 2:17 AM.

What I Look For In a Mutual Fund Family was the previous entry in this blog.

Jihad versus Hirabah is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

-----------------
Advertisement
-----------------

My Links