Compare the Meerkat

The meerkat enclosure is always a favourite at the zoo. They were in good form today with a lot of action. There was quite a large playful brawl going on which I managed to fail spectacularly at capturing with a DSLR whilst my daughter managed an excellent shot with her smartphone.

Initial intention with the zoo was to catch the bus up to the top and walk down so that my legs would be saved a bit of effort but as there was already a queue of over fourteen (the bus capacity) people and a bus not due for another half hour we skipped that and walked.

First proper stop was Penguin Rocks to wait for the penguin parade. Not many penguins came out and non of the big ones, so we watched some Gentoos and rockhoppers amble around slowly.

After that the big cats was the next major stop, but a lot of them seemed to be asleep or in hiding. We did see the jaguar and the tigers, the tigers sporting very fine sideburns and the jaguar looking most unimpressed with captivity.

Wandering up the hill via the 'African Savannah' with its zebra and antelope , we pondered how much happier the jaguar might have been in this enclosure, we managed to find the lions. They were asleep but very majestic with it of course.

The journey down the hill was dominated by apes. Gelado baboons first who provided quite a show, periodically a bunch of them would chase each other round the large enclosure and end up with a quick climb and then leap from a tree. There were a lot of young who were also very entertaining, their mild acrobatics and leaps of surprise punctuated by imitations of the older baboons.

Capuchin and squirrel monkeys at the living links research centre were unsettlingly human in some of their behaviour and for me they could have provided hours of study and photography.

Our evening consisted of a rather large meat feast (having to abandon the planned bbq as the weather turned a bit for the worse) and 'Movie 43' for a second time (for me at least) which I think Becky and Aaron enjoyed.