Who Are These Guys!

I went to the Auckland Zoo yesterday, and spent some tie taking photo's. They are not the best as it was really too sunny which makes the photo's look a bit pale. However it was was a fun day!

These two photos above and below are of baby (Calf) Giraffes. Imagine being so tall that you have to bend your knee's to get a drink!

Tis pretty boy was busy stuffing a leafy branch into his nest when I snapped this! Oh, maybe he is a 'she'?! Children from a local school had pained the nesting boxes, which are as colourful as the birds were!

These two Rhino's were having a bit of a head tussle over some hay on the ground! Luckily it didn't end up in a full of head banging incident. I've seen them do that before and it's quite something to see. Makes you glad you are on the other side of the enclosure!

This bi mama Orangutan was strolling along the high wire with her baby clinging on to her tightly. She eventually disappeared into the tree's where she stayed. I guess she'd had enough of us silly humans oohing and aahing over her baby!

Those ropes are up quite high, and at each end there is a big tower thing where they can sit and watch everybody. They had many ropes like this, criss-crossing over a huge big area that had heaps of tall trees for the Orangutans to climb. I'm not sure how many of them were in this area, but I could only see three. I'm sure there were more in amongst the tree's and out of the sun. It was a really hot day yesterday.

OMG I have a massive fear of  Alligators! Being this close was as close as I ever want to get to them! Thankfully NZ does not have them in the wild. Because they love the heat, and even tough it was a hot sunny day, the Zoo Keepers have attached two big heat lamps to a couple of tree's for them, which the Alligators lay under to keep warm. I think I have a photo of one of the lamps. I was upon a ridge which crossed a stream in their enclosure. The Alligators (there were two that I could see) never moved a muscle all the time I watched them.

This beautiful Lioness (above) had her eyes on me while I was taking her photo! She watched as I moved around the enclosure, and then licked her lips.  Was she thinking I would make a tasty snack?! Most of the other Lions were under the shade of the tree's, so her photo's are the only ones I took. In every photo of her, she was looking directly at me! Their enclosure was surrounded by a big lake, which was kid of reassuring! Lions usually don't go in the water unless they are on the move with a Pride of other lions and they need to cross a river to get to better food sources. So I kept telling myself as I spent a fair bit of time taking photo of her!

I fell in love with this beautiful girl above! She was so gentle with the keepers, and showed her skill of doing a high five with them, as well as closing a door on the enclosure the two keepers were in! I wanted to bring her home and have her on my back lawn! She is an Asian Elephant, and I cannot recall her name! She even picked up a room the keepers had been using and twirled it around! She had such a kind gentle face, I just wanted to hug her!

Above is one of the Siamang Gibbons. This one has been drinking water from the lake. There were darker coloured ones as well. They were very 'entertaining' with their antics!

Below is one of the many Australia birds that were in this huge enclosure. There was like a huge forest where the birds can fly around freely. Way above was a massive wire netting 'roof', o stop the birds escaping, and to stop predators from entering their enclosure. This bird (Lorikeet?) almost took my head off a few times as he flew from one tree to another. The path way was between the tree's. He mimicked me when I whistled a tune!

Below is one of the silver Siamang Gibbons. He was sitting on a rock and had his back feet up on a branch! Oddly enough he too watched me as I moved around taking his photo!

Below is a Black Cockatoo. He was quite a big bird with beautiful copper coloured stripes on his feathers under his tail and wings. Another pretty boy!

I took a ton of photo's, and I will go back again one day. This time on a more cloudy day. I did miss a few animals, but with 40 acres to walk around, it was a long day for me. Especially carrying heavy camera equipment, lunch and a water bottle!

Ok, that me for today!

Thanks for dropping by! Have a SUNSHINE day! Remember to always be your authentic self and shine right each and every day!