December 2, 2006
On December 2, I made a fun-filled trip to the zoo with my little brother Cameron. Besides the fact the I had to wake up early, my brother couldn't sit still for one second, and he broke my camera, I had lots of fun. We went a little earlier than everyone to avoid the big crowds, but we probably should have waited because I am not a morning person at all. At first I wasnt excited about going, but once we started walking around and I saw all the animals, I was like a little kid in a candy store. I might have had more fun and been more excited than my little brother. I now have a new appreciation for animals and different species and it was probably the most fun I have had in a long time.I visited the Small Mammal House, the Asia Trail, and the Reptile Discovery Center. Here are a few things that I saw:
Asia Trail
Sloth Bears / Melursus ursinus
Range: India, Sri Lanka, Souther Nepal
Diet: fruits(mango, ebony, figs), flowers, ants and termites
Conservation: Vulnerable
Giant Salamander / Andrias japonicus
Range: streams and rivers of Northern Kushu Island and western Honshu in Japan
Diet: eat almost anything
Conservation: near threatened
Asian Small-clawed Otters / Aonyx cinerea
Range: Indonesia, Southern China, Southern India, Phillipines, and South east Asia
Diet: crabs, mussels, frogs, and snails
Conservation: not endangered but are threatened by rapid habitat destruction
Red Pandas / Ailurus fulgens
Range: Sichuan and Yunnan Provinces in China, the Himalayas and Nyanmar
Diet: Bamboo leaves, berries, blossoms, bird eggs, and plants' small leaves
Conservation: Endangered (Habitat loss)
Clouded Leopards / Neofelis nebulosa
Range: Himalayas, Southern China, Taiwan to Malaysia, Sumatra, and the island of Bornea
Diet: Birds, monkeys, pigs, cattle, goats, deer, and porcupines
Conservation: Endangered
Reptile Discovery Center
Gharial / Gavialis gangeticus
Range: India, Nepal, Pakistan
Diet: fish
Conservation: endangered
Gila Monster / Heloderma suspectrum
Range: Southwest United States, Mexico
Diet: eggs
Northern Pine Snake / Pituophis melanoleucus
Range: Eastern United States
Diet: small rodents and mammals
Conservation: not endangered
Austrailian Snake-necked Turtle / Chelodina longicollis
Range: Austraila
Diet: small fish and small fresh water creatures
Conservation: not endangered
Radiated Tortoise / Geochelone radiate
Range: Madagascar
Diet: herbivore, wild grasses
Conservation: endangered
Small Mammal House
LaPlata 3-banded armadillo / Tolypeutes matacus
Range: Western South America
Diet: ants and termites
White-nosed Coati / Nasua narica
Range: all across America
Diet: omnivore
Conservation: not endangered
Giant Elephant Shrew / Rhynchocyon Cirnei
Range: Kenya and Tanzania
Diet:invertebrates
Conservation: endangered
Fennec Fox / Vulpes zerda
Range: Northern Africa, Sinai and Arabian Peninsulas
Diet: vegetation, rodents, birds, bird eggs, lizards, and insects
Rock Hyrax / Procavia capensis
Range: Ethiopia to Southwest Africa
Diet: roots, bulbs, and locusts
Bird House
Hooded Pitohui / Pitohui dichorous
Range: New Guinea
Diet: insects
Conservation: threatened but evaluated as least concern