::TRIP TO THE ST. LOUIS ZOO::
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC HABITATS WE VISITED:
LAKESIDE CROSSING:
Sea Lion swimming in the water
At the Lakeside Crossing is one of the first habitats you see when coming in throught the south entrance. It was a lot of the water animals like Sea Lions, Sting Rays, and Birds. The habitat has a couple ponds so that Geese, Swans, and Ducks can swim around naturally. These ponds are in the center and are surrounded by restaurant areas that would allow for people to observe them while enjoying their food. The main thing that we saw was the Sea Lions. We were enclosed in an area that provided several tunnels glass windows that you observe them swimming. While we watched them, they were getting fed by the trainers. The trainers notified us that they had introduced several new sea lions to the exhibit. I was interesting to watch a couple Sea Lions swimming from trainer to trainer because they didn't understand feeding habits yet. It was fun watching the Sea Lions swim around to their correct owner. The main dominant male was always called to the top of the high rocks. This was probably because it was his spot since he is the head Sea Lion. It was also funny watching them catch the fish. Whenever they missed, they would leap after it and retrieve it. Many of the trainers were calling the Sea Lions names. It was hard just watching them to associate which sea lion was what name, but I can't imagine the time it took for the trainers to remember which sea lion was which! There were several small sea lions compared to the others, but it seemed the trainers were having a hard time getting them their meals. This could have been that they were the newer Sea Lions. The biggest Sea Lion was pretty large and it was the dominant male. Other than that, there were much larger Sea Lions than the newer ones. They all had shiny coats and were mostly a brownsh black. They seemed more black when they came out of the water, but were more of a brown when you viewed them from the sides of the tank through the glass. When you watching the sea lions walk on the rocks, they used their front fins and back fins like legs. Sea Lions are different than Seals because they can walk on land while Seals have a hard time walking on land. It was funny watching the Sea Lions waddle on the rocks trying to catch their fish!
Taxonomy of the California Sea Lion
Sea Lion lounging on a ledge
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Otariidae
Genus: Zalophus
Species: californianus
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Otariidae
Genus: Zalophus
Species: californianus
THE WILD:
Penguin lounging in the water
At the Wild Habitat, they have many types of animals from multiple types of polar animals, such as bears and penguins, to jungle animals, such as jungle apes, pandas, and prairie dogs, to even birds like flamingos. These areas consisted of ice or polar like conditions for the penguins and some bears, as well as warmer, jungle features with trees and plenty of things to climb for the more exotic apes. The one that we paid the most attention to was the penguins. There were multiple types of penguins from Horned Puffins to Hunboldt Penguins to even the King Penguins. They ranged from many sizes from large penguins that consisted of the King Penguins, that were extremely large, to the puffins that were about the size of a small duck. They were all black and white in colored feathers, but some had diffferent beak types. The puffin's beaks were quite black and orange and were square shaped rather than the normal penguin thats beak is longer. The penguins were all just hanging about in their cold area. The Humboldt Penguins seemed to be jumping around and splashing over the top of the tank. I can tell you, since I got splashed more than once and smelled like fish all day. They were quite busy whether it was the puffin's that were flapping their wings to clean their bodies to the other penguins who were jumping in the water and swimming about and chasing eachother. There were also a lot of penguins that were grooming themselves with there beaks and ruffling their feathers in the water to clean them. It seemed that most of the penguins had already had their feeding time beause they were all cleaning themselves.
Taxonomy of the Horned Puffin
Penguins swimming
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Alcidae
Genus: Fratercula
Species: corniculata
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Charadriiformes
Family: Alcidae
Genus: Fratercula
Species: corniculata
RED ROCKS:
Okapi looking about
The Red Rocks habitat consists of many types of animals and seems to be one of the larger habitats in the zoo. From big cats, like Lions and Tigers, to hoofed animals like Antelope, Zebras, and weird animals like Okapi and Lesser Kudu, this habitat holds quite a unique variety of animals to see. The Red Rocks consist of dry lands that have plenty of grass to eat for the hoofed animals as well as other supplements like hay for example. Many animals are blocked off from each other by none other than red rocks. These rocks make walls that make each animal exhibit comfortably set away from eachother. Animals that would consist of the big cats, seem to get their own santuary where they can lounge around and sleep, which they do plenty of. Their habitat is round and circular and can be seen from many sides so plenty of people can view these amazing creatures. One of the most unique animals that we saw on the trip was the Okapi. Much like a giraffe, these animals are quite tall with long legs and long necks that can stretch to reach leaves off tall trees. They are brownish red for a body coloring and their legs are striped like a zebra. They almost look like a cross between a zebra and a giraffe, but they are definatly not my friends. They even have that blue tongue like a giraffe. When we went on our trip to the zoo, we got to see one of these Okapi come up to the front of the exhibit and take leaves off the trees in front of us. It was quite neat to see them up close and to actually see their blue tongues! While the one Okapi was trying to pry leaves off the trees in front of us, the other Okapi's seem to be more laid back and didn't care that we were taking pictures. They just stood by the trees and watched us act like fools.
Taxonomy of the Okapi
Baby Okapi laying down
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Giraffidae
Genus: Okapia
Species: johnstoni
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Artiodactyla
Family: Giraffidae
Genus: Okapia
Species: johnstoni
::Personal Note:: This zoo trip was a great experience because we got to go around and see these animals that we don't see everyday. I used to love going to the zoo as a kid, but going back much older, it was a more of a fun and educational experience. I would love to go back again and I think that all future classes should take this trip!