April 17, 2012

• The Oldest Zoo in the World

  The Vienna Zoo (also known as Zoo Vienna, Tiergarten Schönbrunn, or the Imperial Zoo) claims to be the oldest zoo in the world.  

      

   

  It was begun in 1752 as an imperial menagerie.   I have lots of pictures of the zoo and not a whole lot to say, so I’ll caption where needed and let the pictures do the talking!

   

         

   

  The peacocks just wandered around, occasionally going into an animal enclosure.

     

   

  Michael touched this albino peacock!

  

   

  Libby kissed a frog to get her prince. But it stayed a frog.

  

   

  They had lots of penguins, but sadly the polar bear enclosure was under construction.

        

   

  PANDAS!

   

          

   

  The lions were asleep (as they often are). 

  

   

  What was neat was that you could go UNDER their enclosure and look up through plexiglass to see what you could see. What did we see?

  

   

  A sleeping lion!

  

   

  Rachel found someone to listen to all her secrets. 

  

   

  I found a new pet. 

  

   

  I think James would like to have seals in the backyard. He loves to watch them.

     

   

  SEAL FIGHT!

     

   

  Now, kiss and make up.

  

   

  Need a bathroom break?

  

  I promise I won’t butt in on you.

   

  

   

  I am including this picture, not because it is particularly good, but because it has a story. I sat down on this wooden bird to pose, began to slide off the dumb thing, grabbed on, kept sliding, and wrenched my back!  It was fairly hysterical. 

  

  Rachel had no such difficulty.

  

   

  Maybe if she had tried to sit on the real birds, we’d have had two good stories.

   

     

   

  We liked posing. 

   

          

   

  They had an aquarium you could walk under (and through). 

  

   

  Hallo, reptile friends! Smile for the camera!

       

   

  The hippo pen was crazy. Those things were so close, and only a Plexiglass wall separated us. (And you could go over it or around it if you really wanted!)

  

   

  This hippo walked right over and laid down in front of James. Females are always falling at his feet. 

  

   

  Look! More animal pictures!

   

                 

   

  We all really enjoyed sitting and watching the elephants eat. Perhaps it was because they were entertaining. Or maybe it was because there were benches, and we’d been walking all day.

      

   

  Either way, you’ve got to love an animal that can pee a heart. 

  

   

  One visit to the gift shop and two stuffed animals purchased. Then, it was–

  

   

  THE END

  

  • 10:13 am
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