We started our visit with the penguins, some of whom were having leisurely swims. Things sped up considerably when a zookeeper appeared with a bucket of fish, which got many penguins zooming through the water to gobble them up as the fish were thrown into the pool. The bigger king penguins were outside, but some traipsed over to the outside pool when the fish bucket came to that pool. A few penguin pics:

Gentoo penguin signaling left turn

Northern Rockhopper penguin

King penguins with two fuzzy down-covered chicks

After that we were in the rainforest building to see the new silverback gorilla before heading over to the Amur tiger demonstration. The power and speed of this big cat was apparent from the daily routine to check its health. After a warmup at lunch in the restaurant it was off to the savannah building where the meekats were furiously digging in the dirt, while the nearby hippopotamuses snoozed. Further along the lions roared; not sure what the nearby zebras made of that. We finished up with Canadian animals, a few of which we occasionally see on our hikes.

All in all a good day with participants: Brian, Marietta, Photini, Janice, Christine, Teresa, Carolyn and guest Wendy. Coordinator Ron.

Panda chowing down on bamboo

Meerkat on lookout duty

Zebra foal having brunch

Teresa finds her inner whooping crane while Christine looks on

Teresa, Photini and Christine being kids-at-heart