This is me after a two zoo tour of Ohio. Ok, fine. This is a koala bear who lives at the Cleveland Metropark Zoo. If I was just a bit taller this guy would’ve been within reach. (There’s no glass, but there is a staff member keeping an eye on things and answering questions.) I mean, I would not touch the koala unless he for some reason touched me first. I’m just saying that the koala enclosure there is amazing; koalas in the trees and echidnas running around below … but I’m getting ahead of myself.
Friday was Don’s birthday and we both took a vacation day with the excellent plan of getting up earlyish and heading out to Ohio to take in both the Cleveland and the Columbus zoos over the weekend. (And leave us Sunday to chill before heading back to the business of being grownups.)
So after a leisurely breakfast we took our coffee to go and started off in a westerly direction into flatness filled with billboards saying things like, “I saw that — God” and fine examples of mid-century commercial architecture and signage going to complete waste. We got to the zoo a bit later than planned but still had several hours to mill around taking it in. There was so much to see we only managed to go through the main zoo and missed the rain forest area (a separate section on the other side of the main gate) completely, and this is excluding the North American section that was under renovation as well as the elephant habitat that is under construction. You really need to arrive when they open to see it all, and I’m just not sure that would even do it.
Expansive enclosures and viewing from multiple angles — even though the place was filled with people, you could easily find a place to stand and see the animals. The whole place is well thought out and it was such an enjoyable experience.
I absolutely had to include this stellar shot of hot ring-tailed lemur action. At no point in the New or Old World Monkey or Lemur areas of the Primate, Cat and Aquatics Building was there a moment where at least one resident wasn’t showing us his or her butt. “Oh you have a camera? Make sure you get my best side.”
After we left Cleveland we drove to our hotel in Columbus and found a Mongolian BBQ joint in the helpful area guide in our room. Unfortunately it was neither Mongolian or BBQ, but I had a ridiculously huge mango beverage with an alcohol content large enough to hopefully kill whatever else the restaurant introduced to my system. And to be sure, and because that’s how I am, I added a couple glasses of wine before ending Day One.
Remarkably I was not hungover in the morning and woke up with plenty of time to hit breakfast downstairs before checking out and making our way to the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium. And oh! We certainly needed that time! Do you have any idea how huge the Columbus Zoo is? Something like 250 acres — and they’re not even finished yet.
After checking out the daunting map we started, coffee in hand (they have a coffee shop right as you enter) with the North American section hoping we could work our way through the rest before evening. One of the first exhibits we saw is home to two gigantic “teenage” Kodiak bear brothers who were frolicking. No seriously, frolicking is a good word choice here. They were running around, in and out of the water and wrestling each other, snorting and harrumphing and being watched intently by the nearby grizzly lady. We stood and watched them too with a small group of onlookers for several minutes and it was probably the greatest zoo moment of my zoo-going life. And with coffee!
We saw sleeping wolverines and lounging moose ladies (the fella was out of sight) and a bobcat. Basically the morning was chilly and full of mostly sleeping animals (and coffee). It wasn’t until it got warmer out that ridiculous things started happening.
First, we’re looking at tortoise and a woman pushing a stroller barrels into the viewing area squealing “Lookit the big turtle! See the big turtle!”
Then, we’re sitting on a bench watching the bonobos and another woman with a stroller keeps saying “Do you see the monkeys? Can you say monkey?” Finally a bonobo runs up and slaps the glass in front of a small child who was dancing on the ledge while her mother also was going on about monkeys, which didn’t make them stop calling them monkeys but did make the kid cry, which I enjoyed.
As we continued on the path around the bonobos in the direction both of the obnoxious women had come from, we passed a huge sign that reads “We Are Not Monkeys!” Maybe this sign ought to be larger and duplicated on the pavements and maybe even on the glass of the viewing areas where no one could miss it. They could have speakers positioned in the landscaping around the place with a friendly voice reminding people that bonobos and gorillas are not monkeys. We have the technology for voice recognition — when someone says “the monkeys” (as opposed to “not monkeys”) the recorded reminder could switch to a less friendly admonishing tone. They could also run metal rods through the walkways and shock ‘em for good measure.
If you think for a minute that I am joking, you are mistaken, and if you think that it doesn’t matter if you call apes monkeys, you are not simply mistaken but also incredibly short sighted. People who do not learn enough about animals are people who do not value them. When children learn about the differences between species they also learn about those that are extinct and they are able to better grasp conservation efforts. If all “monkeys” are the same to you, you aren’t going to care if some of them die out. You aren’t going to appreciate the connections between species that seem completely different, and you’re going to miss the basic principals of biology — information that key to understanding your body, health, medicine, and the world around you just to name a few areas involved.
When there are middle aged people passing on complete ignorance to their children — people who are pushing around fancy strollers and carrying pricey diaper bags — you have to wonder who failed them. What is wrong with science education in this country that people are graduating high school without knowing that guinea pigs are not earless rabbits and that mice are not baby rats?
At least the gorilla area wasn’t surrounded by a cloud of bottom shelf Stupid. And their enclosure looked like the most fun playground ever. They were climbing up and down ladders and had platforms and catwalks all over the place, with ropes and toys. I was never much of a daredevil child, but this was a setup I would’ve been into.
We happened to be in the indoor gorilla area right at 2pm when they have a scheduled keeper talk. She talked about the different family groups that live there, and Colo, the oldest living gorilla born in captivity. And we saw a wee one all snug in the arms of his stand-in mama, laying right in front of the window. They could not have been any closer to it — basically exactly not where I would be lounging, but wow — stunning. How anyone could not love gorillas, I will never understand.
Do you see this? This came from my four year old digital camera that was a decent one five years ago. No zoom, just cropped. We were so close to the elephants. Anytime I can be close to elephants (without worry of being trampled) is a good time.
Really, these were the nicest zoos I’ve been to and I couldn’t have asked for better company. I would not have imagined having such a good time in Ohio. (Not to diss Ohio, but it is just like where I live, except flatter, so this I feel was justifiable surprise.) More photos from the trip are in this gallery.
