We arrived at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska at 6:58pm on Friday, July 8. Check in time is 7:00pm. We made it, no thanks to the inefficient workers at the nearby Burger King drive thru (that we sat in for 18 minutes!!!), but we made it, and were able to get in with our group. WHEW!!
After checking in with our groups and moving all of our overnight gear to the Scott Aquarium where we would be housed for the evening, we went over all the usual housekeeping stuff (rules & regs) and were treated to a hike of the zoo...after hours. This was amazing to go out in small groups, our tour guide was responsible for only our Girl Scout Troop, so it was a very small, intimate experience, amazing.
Our first stop was along "Hoofstock". Pastures of hoofed animals from all over the world.
We saw Addax, who had 2 freshly born little babies in their area. They were obviously the cutest things we had ever seen!
This is obviously not the baby, but this is the picture that actually turned out, so this is what they look like when they grow up :)
Next we saw an animal called the Bongo Antelope. This was my favorite of all of them during the entire stay because they had such an interesting story. The Bongo's are native to Kenya and were widely unknown about until the last century. It was believed that the Bongos were the ancesters of the native Kenyan people reincarnated. Although it was easy for them to catch Bongos and they provide more than enough meat, natives believed that if you touched or ate a Bongo you would suffer spasms similar to epileptic seizures. Because of this, Bongos were left unharmed in their native ranges. However, these taboos are said no longer to exist and the removal/disproval of this belief is responsible for increased hunting by humans in recent times. They are now an endangered species...stupid humans! They are also beautiful creatures. They have a rich brown, chocolate color pelt with white striping. The striping is said to resemble the light coming thru the trees and leaves of the Kenyan forest canopy and provide camoflauge for the Bongo. Anyways, my fave.
Next on our tour were the Red River Hogs. These little guys were ugly beasts and really I am not sure what their purpose is other than to look at.
Also along Hoofstock Row are the Dama Gazelle (which was fun to see since my Dad's softball nickname was Larry "The Gazelle" Kelly). These are the largest of the true gazelles and both boys and girls have horns.
The Gaur, a very large type of cattle.
And last but certainly not least was the Okapi, which, if we ever go back, I will definately spend more time looking at. The picture below is not one that I took, the Okapi were sectioned off and to see them you had to get yourself positioned just right between the Dama Gazelles and the black fabric on the fencing. Apparently, these creatures were not out for display that day. But nonetheless, once we caught a glimpse of them, we decided that these creatures were very cool! They are a relative to the giraffe, and like the giraffe, the front part of the body extends much higher in the rear, it has the same black tongue and they also have the same 2 skin covered horns on thier head. BUT, they have a horse like head and zepra like striped legs....WIERD, but supremely awesome!
This is where I will end our tour of the first day. There is more, obviously, but I have to keep you coming back for more...how else am I supposed to grow my following :)
Stay tuned folks, I will add more as I get time.
No comments:
Post a Comment