![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Ouwehand Zoo
Feb. 22nd, 2016 08:46 pmToday we visited Ouwehand Zoo in Rhenen with MrTimmey and ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yavain. Now that we're no longer part of the Anarquendor we see much less of eachother and taking a trip together is always great fun.
Yava'in had won or found or been gifted four free tickets, so we met up in Rhenen and entered the park. Although the weather was quite horrible (cold and very wet) we had so much fun. There was a sea lion show we visited and we saw orang utans and gorilla's, several tigers, a few wolves, a bear and some lions. There were lots of birds and fish too.
I hadn't brought my expensive camera because the weather was just so crappy, and most of the animals were just too far away to get a decent picture of. But since I'd only brought my phone camera it was pretty hard to get a good picture -- and somehow it only counts if you have a picture to prove you were there. (Mr.Timmey posted on his Facebook three times, so he was REALLY there!)
We had a little moment with one of the orang utan's. It was a female (I think) who was munching on some twigs and she waved her hand above the cage (she was sitting on a plateau near the top). As we waved back, she threw one of her twigs at us, and of course what else could I do but bite on the twig too, to show her I appreciated the gesture. We passed the twig around (with varying enthusiasm for twig-munching) before moving on.
The wolves were in the bear forest and there was obvious tension in the cage between the bear and the two wolves. One wolf was more towards the back and the other one positioned himself between the bear and his mate (?). I sure hope they are usually more relaxed. The animal cages and the interaction with humans was really great in most of the animal areas. The bear cage had a large rope bridge over the cage (and with fences so the bear can't get to the rope bridge), so you can get really close. The gorilla place had different levels where you could peek into the cage, with climbing spots for the kids ("the gorilla experience"). The penguins could swim so close to the humans, there were signs warning the visitors that penguins do bite.
That said, there were also some animals that were not feeling happy. One of the polar bears was pacing, and so was the amur tiger. I did manage to catch the tiger's eye, and he wasn't as unhappy as the polar bear, but it didn't make me feel very comfortable.
Of course, what do I know? I'm just a visitor. And I'm very sure all the people at Ouwehand are working very hard to create the best environments for the animals they can. And they are also actively involved in conservation and rescue.
There were white lions and white tigers and elephants and giraffes and camels and lama's and snakes and piranha's and frogs and pigs and meerkats, and parrots and flamingoes -- and capybara's who were purring.
We had cocoa and tea before saying our goodbyes around six, having had a wonderful day looking at pretty animals.
yavain. Now that we're no longer part of the Anarquendor we see much less of eachother and taking a trip together is always great fun. Yava'in had won or found or been gifted four free tickets, so we met up in Rhenen and entered the park. Although the weather was quite horrible (cold and very wet) we had so much fun. There was a sea lion show we visited and we saw orang utans and gorilla's, several tigers, a few wolves, a bear and some lions. There were lots of birds and fish too.
I hadn't brought my expensive camera because the weather was just so crappy, and most of the animals were just too far away to get a decent picture of. But since I'd only brought my phone camera it was pretty hard to get a good picture -- and somehow it only counts if you have a picture to prove you were there. (Mr.Timmey posted on his Facebook three times, so he was REALLY there!)We had a little moment with one of the orang utan's. It was a female (I think) who was munching on some twigs and she waved her hand above the cage (she was sitting on a plateau near the top). As we waved back, she threw one of her twigs at us, and of course what else could I do but bite on the twig too, to show her I appreciated the gesture. We passed the twig around (with varying enthusiasm for twig-munching) before moving on.
The wolves were in the bear forest and there was obvious tension in the cage between the bear and the two wolves. One wolf was more towards the back and the other one positioned himself between the bear and his mate (?). I sure hope they are usually more relaxed. The animal cages and the interaction with humans was really great in most of the animal areas. The bear cage had a large rope bridge over the cage (and with fences so the bear can't get to the rope bridge), so you can get really close. The gorilla place had different levels where you could peek into the cage, with climbing spots for the kids ("the gorilla experience"). The penguins could swim so close to the humans, there were signs warning the visitors that penguins do bite.
That said, there were also some animals that were not feeling happy. One of the polar bears was pacing, and so was the amur tiger. I did manage to catch the tiger's eye, and he wasn't as unhappy as the polar bear, but it didn't make me feel very comfortable.
Of course, what do I know? I'm just a visitor. And I'm very sure all the people at Ouwehand are working very hard to create the best environments for the animals they can. And they are also actively involved in conservation and rescue.
There were white lions and white tigers and elephants and giraffes and camels and lama's and snakes and piranha's and frogs and pigs and meerkats, and parrots and flamingoes -- and capybara's who were purring.
We had cocoa and tea before saying our goodbyes around six, having had a wonderful day looking at pretty animals.
