As I, Nounours, live near Santa Barbara, I can often go there. Today, I went to the Santa Barbara Zoo. So, I have decided to tell you about it. We drove from our home to get lunch and then went to the zoo.
We checked the board at the front of the zoo and looked for events. It said that there was going to be a talk about Asian elephants. Since I had brought my friend Ella, who is an elephant, with me; I decided to go to it.
When we arrived, we saw one of the elephants sleeping. The other one was eating some green hay. A zoo keeper started walking to where I was. Then, the interesting discussion about elephants began.
First, she introduced herself. She said her name was Emily and that she watched out for the elephants. She also mentioned that there were three other zoo keepers who looked after the elephants. Then she introduced the elephants. One of them was named Little Mac the other was named Sujatha, whose nickname is Suj.
Then, she explained about their diet. They eat things like kale, hay, bark, fruits, vegetables and leaves. They also enjoy things like watermelon, pears, apples and even popcorn! She also mentioned that they watched over the elephants’ feet and kept them nice and clean. They weighed them and did health checks too. The reason that they pay attention to their feet is the elephants have a lot of weight on their feet and they walk along gritty surfaces. So, to keep their feet nice and clean, they do regular checks and give them pedicures.
When I asked her what the favorite part of her job was, she said that it was behavioral training with the elephants. She also said, naturally, that her favorite animals at the zoo were… of course… elephants because of the elephants’ personalities.
She mentioned that the elephants were 46 years old, which is old for an elephant. Elephants usually live for about 60 years; but one lived until it was 71!
The elephant talk was very interesting!
While I was walking to the elephant exhibit, I saw a macaw. Suddenly, after I passed it, I realized why it was called that. It had been silent for most of the time I watched it. But, then it started squawking loudly! I sounded like it was “macawing” itself… “Macaw! Macaw! Macaw!”
There were also toucans behind it, with very pretty beaks.
After the elephant and bird adventure, I decided to go see some rain forest animals. Because there were penguins near the rain forest area, we decided to see them. Two of the penguins were swimming; but the others were waddling on the ground. When you went down into the rainforest passage, you could see the penguins from under water.
There were also turtles that were swimming around in their own tank. Next, there were frogs who were very stealthily hidden. There was also a snake called the false water cobra. The reason it wasn’t a real cobra was because it only had a mildly venomous bite, not real venom like other cobras have.
As we exited the rainforest path, we decided to see African animals. While we were walking, I noticed a gorilla sign; so I decided to go over and see the gorillas. The gorillas, which had a very nice view, that I’m quite jealous of, were sleeping and resting. When I went to see the giraffes, there only appeared to be three of them. Then, two other giraffes poked their heads out. Then, there were 5 giraffes. They were all very, very tall, except for two of them, who were younger.
There were also meerkats that were rather small and fuzzy. They were about my size, actually. They kept looking at everyone. Next, we went over to see the lions and fennec foxes. There were two female lions out. They were both “lion” down and looked rather cozy. They looked surprisingly calm as if they would never attack anyone. They reminded me a bit of dogs, which was odd; since they are very large cats.
And last, but certainly not least, was the wonderful fennec fox. Because they are nocturnal, they were asleep when I was there. They were three little fuzzy, sleeping animals with abnormally large ears (compared to their head). I wasn’t sure whether to be suspicious or not, because it could have been a diabolical plan. But, it was hard to suspect them; after all, they looked so innocent.
So, that was my trip to the zoo. Make sure to visit the zoo sometime. It’ll be a lot of fun!
See you in the next post.
The Beary Good Adventures 