As the "grand finale" of animal photos from our visit to the Jardin des Plantes ménagerie last weekend, here was my favorite part: the Singerie, or Monkey House. They didn't have as many different types of monkeys as I had hoped, but of course, the orangutans were the most interesting. And how soulful are her eyes, this one (above).
This isn't the best photo I've ever taken (way too blurry) but I couldn't resist sharing the major POUT on this one's face. She was rather shy before this and had her face covered with her hands. Can't say I blame her... she must have hundreds if not thousands of people gawking at her all day long. Fortunately the zoo forbids flash photography in the indoor spaces so as not to startle or upset the animals.
Of course, the picture wouldn't be complete without a youngster in the group. I have no idea how this giant bucket got all the way up onto that large horizontal pole, but this little girl, Tamu, was having a ball ducking down into the bucket and playing with the ropes, and then popping back up again. She was quite a crowd pleasure, especially when the bucket started to fall because of her climbing antics...
And sure enough, the bucket finally fell down a level and she had to drop down with it...
But she made it safe and sound, with the watchful (and so lovely) eyes of her mother who was in the pen next door.
I love being able to see the animals in a zoo, but at the same time it saddens me that they aren't out in the wild where they belong. Maybe some day I'll get to go on one of those safari tours in Kenya or somewhere like that.
