Watching

And finally...the 'other' creatures at the zoo - the humans. These ladies caught everyone's eye! There were four of them together in a group, all dressed in red and purple. I'm guessing that they were members of the Red Hat Society out for a day at the zoo. I kept crossing paths with them...we liked the same animals I think.
Watching people 'on display' in a public setting is always fun.

Squirrel Monkey

Another creature basking in the sunlight...this time it's a spider monkey. She was peering down from her perch at all the human activity below her. I like how the sun highlighted the fur on her tail and her ears.

Lemur in the limelight

This little guy was just sitting, watching carefully as folk went by. He was in a shadowy corner of the rainforest exhibit caught in a shaft of sunlight that lit him up beautifully.

Where did you get that hat?!

Another of the characters I met at the Calgary Zoo...this one is the East African Crowned Crane. I can't decide if she's having a bad-hair-day or if she is just modelling the latest fashion!

Punkey!?

I was at the Calgary zoo again this past week...this time focusing more on the animals than the street art...so I thought I might post a few candid character shots this week!
This punk monkey caught my eye! He reminded me of Sid Vicious! Worth a post for that alone I thought!

Street Art Sunday - Zebra

Street Art Sunday #6

This zebra is just one critter in a whole parade of animals at the entrance to the Calgary Zoo. They stand about nine feet high and extend about fifty feet and cast the most wonderful shadows on the sidewalk when it's sunny.

Kids love to climb on them too.

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The artist was Lucy Curtis and the piece was comissioned in memory of a long time benefactor of the zoo, Mona Libin. They reminded me of those curled paper cards that you sometimes find at craft fairs but I loved the scale and ruggedness of the weathered metal they were made from.

How did he get there?

This somewhat surreal picture was taken at the entrance to the Calgary Zoo.
It wasn't an easy shot to get...the elephant wouldn't stand still! That's because this the elephant was etched on sliding glass doors at the underpass entrance and folk were coming through every few seconds and it took me about six shots beforeI got this one.
It's a while since I've visited the zoo and I was pleasantly surprised at the changes that have been made. They have some really cool artwork that I'll feature in another post and have done their best to upgrade the animal exhibits to make them happier, more stimulating environments. There were lots of babies at the zoo: five baby peccaries, a baby gorilla, a baby colobus, a baby giraffe and a baby lemur that I saw so they must be doing something right.
But I'm still not sure about zoos.