Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!

You guessed it.  We went to the zoo today.  We weren't expecting anything too amazing, and that's basically what we found.  It was fairly good sized with a variety of animals (including lions and bears, but no tigers).  The enclosures seemed a bit on the small and boring side for most of the animals, but they mostly appeared to be in good health.  The number of visitors was impressive.  It was so crowded that I very quickly felt that my bubble was constantly being violated (mostly by beings about 3 ft high or less).  I felt that overall the zoo had a lot of potential that it was simply unable to live up to because of lack of funding.  Things just looked a little tired and worn out, some better maintenance would have gone a long way.

The bear was pacing back and forth in his pool, his eyes fixed on the visitors behind the glass.  It seemed very clear that this is where he had received food before and he was looking for some now.  You were allowed to feed many of the animals (although some had signs that said not to).  I found this a bit disturbing, knowing that its not good for the animals' health.

My favorite animal pose were the lions today.  Stretched out in the sunshine on a chilly day (about 45).

The hippos were the only animals that actually had a bigger enclosure than at the Wichita zoo.  They had a full swimming pool and they were basically doing laps in it.  Its hard to believe something that massive can float/swim!

Capuchins were active on their playscape.

The zoo got a low score on their educational information.  This was the extent of each sign.  Very minimal info.

This seemed like kind of a cool way to feed the animals (where it was allowed) without risking getting bit.