Photos: Giraffes, Hornbill and Cranes in Omaha Zoo

Giraffes, Hornbill and Cranes in Omaha Zoo


Hornbill and Okapi in Omaha Zoo

See more here: Giraffes, Hornbill and Cranes in Omaha Zoo from Hit the Road - See America and the World.

Wintertime and Rhino Enrichment, Cleveland Style

Rhino Enrichment, Cleveland Style from CMZooTube

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo is home to more than 3,000 animals representing 600 species, including the largest collection of primate species in North America. Top attractions include The RainForest, Northern Trek, Australian Adventure, African Savanna, Waterfowl Lake and the Primate, Cat & Aquatics Building.

I have posted many photos and videos from Cleveland Zoo on the travel blog. The most recent posts are:


Viktor Schreckengost and Elephant Sculptures at Cleveland Zoo


Bactrian Camels at Cleveland Zoo

A mnemonic for the correct name for each camel species is this: "Bactrian" begins with "B", and "Dromedary" begins with "D" -- and "B" on its side has two humps, whilst "D" on its side has only one hump. Source: Wikipedia.

Sea Lion at Cleveland Zoo Dies of Pancreatitis

Huck, one of the Cleveland Zoo two sea lions, enjoyed interacting with visitors, as you can see from the video below at minute 2:01:


Sea Lion at Northern Trek, Cleveland Zoo. See another video here.

The 5-year-old California sea lion, died of of pancreatitis and acute enteritis, according to the zoo press release: "Huck had shown no clinical signs of illness or abnormal behavior until the day he died.

Huck arrived at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in 2003 from Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska. He was one of two sea lions residing with five harbor seals in the Northern Trek area of the Zoo."

This post ads to the list of animals with very "human" diseases like:
- Gorillas with CHF
- A tortoise with CAD

References:
Cleveland Metroparks Zoo sea lion dies. The Plain Dealer.
Northern Trek in the Spring at Cleveland Zoo. Hit the Road - See America and the World.

Lions at African Savanna, Cleveland Zoo

Close-up of the Lions at African Savanna, Cleveland Zoo


Click here to see the larger photos in the album.

Columbus Zoo: Manatees, Gorillas and More

Columbus Zoo is one of the 6 great Ohio Zoos. Currently, I have photos and videos from 4 of them: Cleveland, Akron, Toledo and Columbus.

Click to play the video below:


Manatee Coast at Columbus Zoo

This video was shot with a Canon SD 450, a nice little camera which is almost the size of a credit card (only thicker). The background music was added using the new AudioSwap feature of YouTube. I especially like the turtle swimming right in front of the camera every minute or so. The video was edited with Windows Movie Maker, a free program included with every recent Windows version. I would like to point out to my readers that such videos are easy to make and I am looking forward to seeing your own educational or entertaining (preferably both) videos soon.

See more photos and videos here.

Fastest and Slowest - Cheetahs and Turtles at Cleveland Zoo

See my Tabblo

Toledo Zoo in Photos

See the Tabblo

Related:
There's So Much to Do in Toledo, Ohio

Cleveland Zoo in the Spring

See the Tabblo

Annual Sheep Shearing in the Australian Adventure

Magnolia and other trees are blossoming in late April

The spring is here and this means that the time has come for the annual sheep shearing at the zoo.


Merino sheep before and after the haircut

The sheep shearing is an annual event in the outback Australia and in the Cleveland Zoo. The merino sheep have a lot of fleece and it would be very difficult for them during the summer if they are not sheared. Also, the newborn lambs cannot find the sheep nipple to suck among the dense fleece. These are just two of the reasons why sheep have an annual shearing day.

The merino sheep skin is very wrinkly and sometimes inadvertent cuts happen, just as when you shave before you go to work (for men only). See these minor cuts on the picture. These cuts heal very well, just like kids' bruises when playing or falling from a bicycle.


This is a professional shearer who knows that the sheep has to be seated so as not to fight during this yearly haircut. Nowadays everybody uses electric machines instead of scissors. This allows the trained shearers to work on more than 400 sheep in a day.


Note that the fleece is sheared in one piece and not in cuts and bits. It took this shearer 5 min to be done just because everyone wanted to have a good picture. During the state fair, the champion shearer managed to finish within one and a half minutes ! There is a special technique to do the sharing, a series of movements, called the Bowen Technique.

And, of course, the best shearers come from New Zealand. The world speed shear record is 1 lamb in 17.94 seconds!

Even if you don't see it that way, the sheep shearing down under and in the UK, is popular sport with regional and world championships. The world record for shearing sheep is 463 sheep in 9 hours, achieved by Bowen himself.


A new animal (much smaller) is appearing from the other side of the fleece.


The fleece is white and clean on the inside and dirty on the outside, so it needs to be washed before it can be used. Actually, the dark color of the outer fleece is due to lanolin. If you touch the fleece and rub it, you will notice that you hands become soft. The lanolin is used in almost all commercial creams for dry skin. It is like moisturizing your hands with sheep sweat. Yuck!


The cleaned fleece can be used to make sweaters and many other things.

And this is the end of our annual shearing day at the zoo! Hope you had fun. The shearing day is every year at the end of April.

References:
Sheep shearer - Wikipedia
Godfrey Bowen, the fastest shearer in the world - NZedge.com
Wool - Wikipedia
An Australian vacation - veland.com

Australian Adventure at the Cleveland Zoo

Welcome to Australia; Where is the Koala?; Kangaroo Walkabout; They are too fast though...unless they're taking a nap


Koala Gum Leaf Hideout


Koalas habitat is at the entrance of the Australian adventure which is closed during the winter but you can still see these cute bear-like creatures. Koalas sleep 18 hours per day, then they wake up, eat some Eucalyptus tree leaves and doze off again. What a life...


Termite mounds, you can see the Yagga Tree in the distance - this where we are heading.

The Reinberger Homestead - an Australian Outback Ranch House


Walk inside this Australian house, you'll meet a giant talking koala.


Beautiful mosaic - aborigines catching fish, choose your boomerang and let's go hunting


Visit the farm

The Mysterious Yagga Tree


Let's climb up the Yagga tree but be careful, you have to go through waterfalls, to walk on hanging bridges, and to slide right into the throat of the coral snake...That is why they call the Australian Adventure...


Enter a dangerous cave under the sound of the Didgeridoo...Didgeridoo...Didgeridoo...This is the Crocodile Caverns Sinkhole.


Where the Crocodile is waiting for its lunch...

You can see everything by boarding the train at the Koala Junction. The ticket is $ 1.50.





Back to safety in the African savanna where the spring is in the air.


References:
Annual Sheep Shearing in the Australian Adventure
Australian Adventure - CleMetZoo.com
360° panoramic view - Convention & Visitors Bureau of Greater Cleveland