We had a couple of trips to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in the last month or so. Managed to get some really good shots, just haven’t had a chance to post before now.
One of the main attractions at the CM Zoo is the giraffes. They have a balcony-level viewing where you can purchase lettuce to feed them by hand. It’s really something to see such amazing animals walking up and being able to interact with them so intimately. Theo is always so excited for it but also seems so shy when they actually come by for the treats.
There was a baby giraffe born here recently as well.
We got really luck with the Rino this time. Normally this guy just likes to hide out in the back of his area and you can’t see much from the 80 yards or so away but he was more active on this day and got some good shots of him walking.
I always have a difficult time shooting through glass but there’s a nice lookout above the lion area where you can see them through open air. The male was down a little ways but the lioness was fairly level to my viewpoint just over a bit.
The tiger was particularly active on the day as well. Managed to get a few shots in motion as well as a couple of beautiful portraits.
The snow leopard was quite active as well. It was amazing to watch her moving around. I did my best to get a shot through the mesh.
The bald eagles are always photogenic. It’s hard not to get a good shot of them, it’s more about trying to decide which shot to show off. I really liked the bokeh in this one.
The orangutans were quite active in their area. It was really something to watch the baby interacting with the adults.
Wallabys have a neat survival trick — there are thick blood vessels near the surface of skin on their strong legs, so they lick them and as the moisture evaporates it helps to cool them down. Was really fun to see them actually doing this.
Caught this shot of the grizzly just waking up from a nap.
The moose was down in the lake portion of his habitat looking for a cool drink.
Always a great time at the zoo. Can’t wait to go back again.