Alphazoobet

My penchant for making up words continues. While reviewing hundreds of my zoo travel pix, I started combining files by animal and subsequently started setting them into alphabetical order. I began working on a little animal/alphabet book which is nearing completion-but the innate graphic artist in me is not ready to release the work yet. Soon! In the meantime, I will intermittently, place samples of my photo archive online for your enjoyment.

In the same vane, I discovered as recently as last night, an interesting program that introduces the alphabet and early reading for english and spanish speaking families that also utilizes animals. The program is called zoophonics and looks to be quite innovative as well as aesthetically pleasing (the product, that is).

B is for Baboon

Baboons (Papio hamadryas) from The Copenhagen Zoo

   

The baboon comes from northern africa. They eat grass, roots and insects and have the most close knit family structure of the 5 baboon species. Males are typically twice the size of females.

Watching the family dynamics can be fascinating and extremely entertaining.

More info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baboon

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamadryas_Baboon

http://www.wildwatch.com/living_library/mammals-2/baboons-in-the-savannah-life-in-the-troop

http://www.peta.org/feat/baboon/

Zoo Animals

I have grown to love animals through my zoo visits. Fear had earlier kept me fairly neutral but, over the years of regularly observing and photographing zoo animals I have become more observant, more interested and more enamored.

Photography has connected me to the animals in a way I had not expected. As I look through the lens I am not afraid. I am fascinated. While aiming to get a wonderful shot, I continually look at the animals from various angles and in various contexts. Over time it makes me more aware of them as I watch their movements and begin to notice their habits and follow their routines. As I photograph them I identify little idiosyncracies and similarities to other species that earlier I would not have noticed. This sparks my curiosity and is often followed by further internet research post visit.

My awareness causes me to be more actively involved on a greater level as well and I have increased my philanthropic support for conservation and animal protection substantially over the past years.

It has also caused me to be more conscious of the effect my own everyday actions have on the environment and slowly I am making in roads to positively impact these actions for the better of the animals, nature and the world.

Vacation

Back from vacation on July 16th…….

Watch this space then for more enzoosiastic clips from my favorite zoos.

Artis Zoo (Amsterdam)

I was recently in Amsterdam, Holland for a lecture on Authenticity and Experience Economy 2.0 and had the opportunity to spend a couple of spare hours in Artis Cultural Zoo. It is only the second time that I have been there but, it is rapidly becoming one of my favorite zoos. Although there are several of the animal enclosures that I find uncomfortably small  if one can believe the literature then the Artis Zoo is also working on remedying the situation as soon as possible. What I like about the Zoo is that it is lively, esthetically pleasing, interesting, educational, simultaneously stimulating and relaxing, inspirational and fun. The staff are friendly, well informed and helpful. There are places for the young, the old and everyone in between. The entrance fee covers entrance into the Zoo, the Planetarium, the Aquarium, the Geological Museum and the Zoological Museum. There are wonderful places to sit and lose yourself in this fabulous inner city oasis as well as sit and study the animals, the surroundings or the people. Children abound, clearly engaged and comfortable in the surroundings that are especially well designed and suited for young needs. The day, I visited there were many daycare and school groups admiring the animals, playing on any one of the  four playgrounds, eating picnic style on the grass, climbing on the “child” accessible sculptures, soaking their feet in the little pond, having an ice cream or ooohing and aahing in one of the museums. Here are some pictures of my visit.

Hello world!

My enZOOsiasm began with the discovery of one particular species. One fine day, my sons and I followed the signs to see a most unusual and hitherto unrecognizable animal named the tapir. It was such an unusual animal that it instantly sparked a marathon of questions in the minds of not only my boys, but, also their mother. As time evolved, our increased interest in the tapir resulted in more frequent visits to the zoo which consequently further incited our curiosity for other animals and heightened our enthusiasm for the zoo overall. Join us in our enZoosiasm!!!! For more information on the animal that initially peaked our enZOOsiasm see: http://www.tapir.org/about_tapir.html