elephants, oregon zoo

A few photos of elephants at the Oregon Zoo. I really wasn't trying for a melancholy effect here, but it's hard to see bars and not anthropomorphize a little.



I'm also going to spare you my handwringing about elephants in zoos, although longtime readers might remember I reluctantly voted against the zoo's most recent bond measure for that reason. I'll just pass along articles at Scientific American and Time, and the 2008 study they're reporting on, "Compromised Survivorship in Zoo Elephants", originally published in Science.

Aviary Birds, Oregon Zoo

The aviary next to the African Savanna exhibit is my favorite part of the zoo. I've never been able to explain why, much less convince anyone, but that's ok. You have to stop and sit and watch for a bit; it's not really an instant gratification sort of exhibit the way the elephants are, for example.



You'd think that since I stopped and sat and paid a little attention, I'd be able to identify the birds pictured here and provide some useful trivia about them. But sadly that's not the case. As I said in the last bird post, feel free to chime in and identify these birds if you know what they are.

De Brazza's Monkey, Oregon Zoo

A few photos of a De Brazza's Monkey at the Oregon Zoo. Is he thinking the deep bittersweet thoughts of a zoo macaque? Or is he just waiting for a bus that never arrives?

polar bear, oregon zoo

Tiger, Oregon Zoo

eew, naked mole rat!

A naked mole rat at the zoo. Kind of an odd pose, but I did see it move, so maybe it was just pining for the fjords or something.

I realize they're highly unusual animals with a hive-like social structure, and it's fascinating how this behavior evolved independently multiple times in the animal kingdom. Although it's hard to think about that for too long without being reminded of Frank Herbert's creepy Hellstrom's Hive. Set right here in Oregon, too.

I often wonder, though, whether the zoo keeps naked mole rats around because they're pretty much the ultimate gross-out animal, something to keep bus loads of 8 year old boys entertained on field trips. I mean, I suppose it's practical to have a gross-out animal like this. It's not like you can get 8 year old boys to sit quietly in the aviary and watch the colorful birds. Even I wouldn't have done that at age 8. And maybe one kid in a hundred or so will be enthralled and grow up to be a zoologist, or maybe a horror film director. So maybe that's the zoo's educational mission at work, I dunno.

zoo lizard

The great thing about lizards is that they're really good at holding still. They also manage to look rather droll as they hold still, even though they aren't actually thinking much of anything at all, on account of being lizards and all.




As with the preceding frog photo, I really ought to have made a note of what sort of lizard this is while I was at the zoo. Figuring it out after the fact from the zoo website isn't really working out.

a frog at the zoo

I probably ought to have made a note on what kind of frog (or toad, possibly) this was. I seem to recall it was in the "Predators of the Serengeti" exhibit, but the zoo's website doesn't mention there being any frogs (or toads) in said exhibit.

sea urchin

Ocelots

A couple of ocelots at the zoo. One was asleep, while the other was pacing the enclosure rather rapidly, as if he'd rather not be in there. It was, frankly, one of those moments that makes me skeptical about keeping animals in zoos. Some species appear to do ok, but others just don't seem to fare so well, mentally or physically, in enclosed spaces like this. I do understand the education and conservation arguments for zoos, and I doubt I'd ever get to see a live ocelot otherwise, and I'm not actually arguing against zoos, in general. But that doesn't make it any less unsettling when you see a cat pacing and looking trapped.



Surprisingly, ocelots do occur in the wild in a couple of places in the US. There's a small population in South Texas, and one was recently sighted in Arizona as well. If they happened to live in more forward-thinking parts of the country, this might be an opportunity to lure in well-heeled ecotourists, paying big bucks for a chance to maybe see an ocelot, or a jaguarundi, or even a jaguar in the wild. I usually roll my eyes at the whole ecotourism thing, but it really does seem like there's an opportunity here.

Mandrill, Oregon Zoo

A large male mandrill at the zoo. He just sat there impassively, watching zoo visitors stream by, as if we were the exhibit. I wish I knew what he was thinking about.