Sunday Selections # 177



Welcome back to Sunday Selections!

This once-a- week-meme was originally begun by Kim of Frog Ponds Rock, as a way to showcase some of the many photos we all take, but don't get around to showing on our blogs.

The rules are very simple:-
1. post photos of your choice, old or new, under the Sunday Selections title
2. link back to me, River, somewhere in your post
3. leave me a comment so that I know you've joined in and can come over and see what you've posted.
4. hop on over to TheElephant’s Child to see more of her wonderful photos.

Kath and Andrew often join in.
There are a couple of other participants too:
Jackie K at WorkingThrough It

I usually go with a theme for my Sunday Selections and this week I'm continuing with zoo photos, but not from my recent visit. The following few photos are from 2009, before the zoo was remodelled, when the old gates were still in use and the vast expanse that now houses the panda enclosure and other exhibits was wide open space with >>>

Bison!  Long gone now, there were two of them, I assume a male and female. I have no idea what happened to them.

Notice he is looking at me now? I had taken several photos and I think maybe he was getting irritated. When he started lumbering towards me I thought I should move on.

to the Orang-Utan. He is behind a glass fence, that's why the reflection which I didn't notice until the film had been developed. These photos were all taken with a non-digital camera. This Orang-Utan is no longer there, he was moved to another facility quite a while ago.
This particular enclosure didn't have a roof and this fellow used to fling things out at spectators .
 
the one obliging Hyena who slept out in the open while the rest were under bushes or behind rocks.
 
we used to have Polar Bears too, this pale one and another slightly darker. I was surprised at the colour as I'd thought Polar Bears were snowy white.

He decided to lie down again just when I thought he might climb over the rock and take a dip.

I loved this massive Dragon Tree and still do. It is still at the zoo, but that dirt underneath is now a larger pond where our one remaining Flamingo lives. We had two and both were quite old, sadly the eldest died last January.

He was 83 I believe and had survived an assault a couple of years ago where some silly young men captured and bashed him quite severely.

You can see the pond towards the back of the photo on the right there is a pale pink blob which is one of the flamingos.  The pond now extends all the way to the fence.
 
I remember taking many more photos, but can't find most of them and some have my grandchildren in them so they can't be shown.


Comments

  1. Zoos have improved a lot in recent years haven't they?
    Love the bison - aweinspiring animals. Another that I would love to see in the wild.
    And I was particularly impressed with the Dragon Tree. There are a LOT planted at our arboretum, but they are still babies and I had no idea they would get so large.
    Thanks River.

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  2. News to me about the Polar Bear.

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  3. I love nature and zoo pictures. :) This made me smile.

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  4. How interesting you had bison at the old zoo. They are enormous animals; I've seen them in Yellowstone, where they are protected and increasing.

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  5. How great that your zoo is right on the edge of the city. Sad about the flamingo. We saw many in a zoo in Singapore and they are interesting birds to learn about. The polar bear looks a little forlorn.

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  6. I am not terribly happy about such magnificent beasts being kept in small enclosures.
    On the other hand I know that there are people who say that they might already be completely extinct in the wild if we didn’t have a breeding program in zoos.

    Wouldn’t it be great if there were room for all creatures on Earth to live in freedom.

    I can but dream.

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  7. I want more pics of Angel!!! I want more pics of Angel!! (Said stamping my feet on the floor...and pounting)!!!

    Have a wonderful week, River. And a cuddle for Angel. :)

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  8. I have a very vague memory of our Sydney zoo when I was 5OR6, i went to see it about 8 years ago what a amazing change all for the better, zoos here are a lot better now.
    Merle............

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  9. I just read your comments Angel is a real hit.
    Merle..........

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  10. I tend to agree with Friko.
    My heart dropped when I read what some degenerates did to the old flamingo...

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  11. Hi River,

    What a variety of animals. What idiots who thought it would be fun to assault a flamingo.

    Have a pleasant rest of your weekend, my kind friend.

    Gary :)

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  12. It's always nice to look back and I imagine the improvement to the zoo are excellent.
    I vaguely remember reading or hearing about the attack on the flamingo. You can't help wondering about the mentality, and cruelty, of some people.
    I really must try and get to visit our zoo in South Perth sooner than later. I believe it is well worth a visit these days.
    Like many people I believe animals should be allowed to roam free but if it wasn't for zoos etc many animals by now would be extinct so they are very necessary.
    Thank you for sharing your memories.

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  13. Elephant's Child; I love that dragon tree so much and wish I had the space to grow one. I'd love to see bison in the wild too, we may have to visit America after I win the lotto.

    joeh; that they aren't snowy white? They always look white on TV, perhaps there are two kinds?

    life happens; you're very welcome, I have lots more zoo and wildlife park photos to come.

    Joanne; these were quite a long way across the field and still looked enormous to me.

    Andrew; I would love to see a whole flock of flamingos instead of just one or two. Our zoo is really easy to get to, being so close.

    Friko; these photos are labelled 2009 in my computer, but that is the date I scanned them in. They are actually from 15-16 years ago and the bison area was huge. Other exhibits back then were more confined than now, but things have improved a lot.

    Lee; I have a couple of dozen where Angel is sleeping, will they do? Seriously there is a problem now, as soon as Angel sees the camera he stops whatever cute thing he is doing and sits down for his picture or tries the chew the strap. He's getting spoiled with all the cuddles. He's lying on my arm as I type this.

    Merle; I went past Taronga zoo on the ferry a few years ago, but haven't been there to visit since 1976, just before my K was born.

    Vicki; the flamingo assault was several years ago now and I remember there were so many letters to the paper about it. It took a while for him to recover and the boys responsible were fined pretty heavily I think.

    klahanie; these animals are from many years ago, exhibits have changed a lot now. The idiots got a lot of hate letters written to the paper.

    Mimsie; The zoo improvements are good, just a bit of a surprise if you take too long between visits.
    It would be nice if you could visit your zoo again, but remember it will be a long day out. Do you have someone who could help you with it?

    Everyone- I know I said these photos are from 2009, but that is the year I scanned them into my old laptop. The photos were actually taken some time in the 1990s, I remember I had the grandkids with me and they were quite small.

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  14. Maybe the slightly darker polar bear's Mumsy had an affair with a Philandering Grizzly.

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  15. Vest; Ha Ha.
    Perhaps he was younger, I noticed an advertisment on TV earlier today with polar bear cubs running across the snow and they were brownish.

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  16. I do enjoy your Sunday selections River - I believe many zoos have made tremendous improvements over recent years particularly in Australia and that's a wonderful thing!
    (my bird is a pied cormorant [I think!])

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