Anytime I visit a zoo I have conflicted feelings. On one hand the animals are beautiful, but on the other it is sad to see them caged up in less than natural settings. I understand it can be educational to children and others, but at what cost to the animals.
Setting aside these conflicts for a couple of hours I stopped by the Reid Park Zoo.
The zoo is fairly small by most standards, but is very popular. The walkways were crowded on this sunny Sunday afternoon.
One of the first stops was an enclosed aviary that you walked through.
Another building had some terrariums that housed reptiles.
The flamingo’s had a bit more space.
The peacock as well seemed to have room to roam.
The squirrel monkey with a solemn look.
A similar look from the ring tailed lemurs.
The larger mammals were the ones that seemed most out of place in their enclosures that were far too small.
Summed up best by this rhino. It is disappointing with all the open desert space (outside the city) that a new approach couldn’t be taken to provide wide open spaces for the animals, while still serving the educational and entertainment purposes of the zoo. Of course who has the money to make that happen?
RDZ Photography 