On our last spring break trip of the public school years, Garrett and I visited the Cincinnati Zoo. I love zoos, and I hadn’t been to this one in 30 years. Perhaps it was the time of year — it was quite chilly this early April day — but lots of animals weren’t out and the visit wasn’t everything we hoped for.
I made some photos with my Pentax ME and my 80-200mm Pentax zoom lens, but as of this writing the lab hasn’t sent my negatives back yet. But my Canon S95 and my iPhone 6s were in my pocket, too. So here’s some photos from those cameras.
At least the giant murder lizards were out.

As was this monitor lizard, clinging to this zookeeper who graciously consented to a portrait in double profile. He let us touch the lizard’s skin, which felt thick and somewhat like metal scales.

I adore tigers, and was disappointed, frankly, that this was the only one we saw. I remember the white tigers here from my last visit and hoped we’d see some this time.

I can’t recall whether I’d ever seen a peacock in person before.

As we sought a place to sit down for a snack, this one walked right up to us.

As much as I enjoy zoos and seeing the animals, I do feel sorry for them being all cooped up and wonder if such captivity is any good for them. This poor polar bear did nothing but pace back and forth along this ridge. Poor bored guy.

The giraffes were the highlight of the visit. They were out, and they were active. This one came right up to us to eat from a trough strategically placed on the observation deck.

I was lucky to capture a series of photos that show an interaction between this youngster and presumably its mother.



Canon PowerShot S95 and iPhone 6s.
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