We headed out to the Gladys Porter Zoo. It’s just down
the road a little ways in Harlingen. We’ve been to this zoo before but it was many,
many years ago. Although there seemed to
be an unusual number of employees zipping around in little carts, the zoo was looking
pretty run down. We paid $2 extra to go
into the butterfly house. We saw a Gulf Fritillary,
2 snouts and a hummingbird in the butterfly house.
I have mixed feelings about zoos. On the one hand I do not like to see animals
in cages or in their captive “natural settings” just sitting there looking
depressed and lonely. Knowing that they
should be out running as fast as they can. That’s probably why I didn’t take too many
pictures while we were there. On the
other hand I’m glad there is a place that injured animals have a safe place to
live out their lives.
If you go to the zoo website they do list many ways they
are helping out animals with wildlife
rehabilitation, species survival plans, sea turtle rescue, etc.
Flamingos (there were lots of different species)
Scarlet Ibis - We saw hundreds of these beautiful birds
on a trip to Tobago.
Galapagos Tortoise
Mandarin Duck (related to the Wood Duck)
So, what is the answer to the age old question “where do
tigers come from?”
The story we heard was that there was a woman sitting in
the WallyWorld parking lot trying to sell three tiger cubs. They were confiscated and taken to the Gladys
Porter Zoo.
I've never seen a scarlet ibis in its natural habitat... your photo puts ideas in my head ;-) I, too, have mixed feelings about zoos, but know that often that's the only place some people will ever see a particular species of animal in their life... When we volunteered at Sevilleta NWR the kids we worked with (tried to educate)kids who could actually see a real Mexican Gray Wolf at the ALB zoo and relate to what we were talking about. Don't know if it made a difference, but one can hope.
ReplyDeleteHere's everything you need Sharon:
Deletehttp://caligo.com/trinidad-tobago-independent-birding-ventures/
Teri