Thursday, June 21, 2012

Visit to the L.A. Zoo

One of the first things I have done this summer is to go to the L.A. Zoo. I had a great time exploring the different habitats of the animals. A habitat is a place where animals live. Like a fish's habitat is the ocean. My friends Claire and Katie went with me. We had a great time looking at all of the animals, eating lunch, and riding the new carousel. The zoo is really beautiful now that most of the construction is finally done.

This little guy is a meercat. He just walked right up to the wall next to us.
The meercat has:
* A lot of fur
*A small nose
*A long tail
*Big eyes
*Small ears

This is my friends and I sitting on a lizard at the entrance to The Lair. The Lair is the new reptile building that just opened up about a month ago. I was really excited to see it! I have been waiting for it to open for over a year. It took a long time for them to build it. The Lair is so much nicer than the old reptile building. The enclosures are all made of glass and are alot bigger now. You can really see the animals good. There is also a nursery where you can see the babies. It is really cool!



This is one camoflauged snake. Do you see the head?
This is one of my favorite snakes in The Lair.


Out side of The Lair, we saw a crocodile with a very skinny nose.
A little bit of him is above water, and the rest is in the water.
I wouldn't want to swim with him!



This is a wild boar. He was just hanging out in the shade of a tree. You can see the tree's shadow in the background. You can also see the little pink flowers that have fallen off of the tree. I wonder if the boars eat them?



We watched this mountain goat climb up the steep hill.
He was a pro and didn't slip even once.



These are both female antelopes. The antelopes were eating the grass.
It was lunchtime. There was a male, but it was shy and kept hiding.


This silly monkey kept staring at us through his cage.
He has really long fingers and was making funny faces.


This is one of two baby tigers. He was relaxing in the shade of the palm tree.
It was a hot day, and he was tired.



We were so excited to have a chance to see this jaguar. Everytime we go to the zoo, he is sleeping in the back of his cage, under the grass. He was very big, and panted like a dog. He layed up high on his shelf for a while, and then jumped down to march circles around his enclosure. I wish that he was friendly so that we could pet him.



One of my favorite things at the zoo are the elephants. There is a new elephant enclosure that takes up the whole middle of the zoo. It is really nice, and the elephants seem to love their new house. I have seen three elephants in all. There are also elephant statues that are beautifully painted. You can stand by them and get your picture taken.



This is a female Komodo Dragon. She was right up against the glass.
I really loved the pattern on her back.


This is a flamingo. It was a the lightest one... the rest were really pink.
It had pink under its wings,and a pink beak.



This zebra came over close to us to say hi.



We saw my favorite animal at the zoo...the otter. He was just walking to the swimming pool to cool down. Then he started to talk to the other otter. It was really funny! They made a lot of squeaky noises.


I really love going to the zoo! If you live nearby, you should definitely go and visit The Lair!

Do you live near a zoo?
What is your favorite animal?

 
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8 comments:

  1. Dear Maya,

    What a wonderful way to start your summer holidays by visiting the zoo. I just loved all the photos which you included in this post as I really felt like I was right there with you and your friends.

    The closest zoo to us is the Werribee open range zoo. This is an awesome place to visit. For you get to ride in the back of a jeep, observing the African animals walking around. Also there is a zoo in Melbourne called the Melbourne Zoo. Last time I visited was about three years ago.

    My favourite animal would have to be the elephants as they appear so gentle. Then on the other hand I rather love to watch the meercats. They sure do have some huge personalities about them.

    Do you have a second favourite animal Maya?

    Enjoy your summer holidays Maya, I wonder what interesting post you will put up next Maya.

    From your pal,
    AA

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    1. Dear AA,

      Thank you for your comment. The Werribee open range zoo sounds really awesome. It's neat that you get to see the animals walking around like they are in the wild.

      My second favorite animal is the elephant. I love them very much. I really like the babies. I collect elephants and otters. I have an elephant painting, figures, and lots of stuffed animals.

      Have a great summer!
      Maya

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  2. Hello Maya,

    Zoos are wonderful places to visit, especially well known ones like the L. A. Zoo. When I was your age, my local zoo was Taronga Park Zoo in Sydney. It was there I first had a ride on the back of an elephant. That was quite an experience.

    Since then there have been many changes in zoos. The small cages for the animals have been replaced by habitat enclosures to give animals a more natural life. Many enclosures have been designed to make it appear as though there are no barriers between people and animals. They are much more beautiful than they once were.

    Meerkats are very cute looking with their large ideas and alert faces. Did you see the series “Meerkat Manor” on television? It was a wonderful series on the lives of the meerkat.

    You have shown a wonderful series of photos. Did you take most of them?

    Now to your questions…

    Do I live near a zoo?
    My nearest zoos are about 2.5 hours drive from here. They are the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra, and the Mogo Zoo north along the coast.
    Nearer to me is Potoroo Palace Native Animal Educational Sanctuary. Volunteers run the park where they care for sick and injured animals. It’s a wonderful place to see Australian animals up close.

    What is my favourite animal?
    It would be hard to pick any one animal as my favourite. I have many photos of animals I’ve taken in the wild and in zoos and sanctuaries. All have interesting features or habits.
    I can understand why you would like the otter. I have seen videos of their antics in the wild.

    I hope you enjoy your summer vacation.

    @RossMannell
    Teacher, NSW, Australia

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    Replies
    1. Dear Mr. Mannell,

      Thank you for your comment. You are so lucky that you got to ride on an elephant! That is my dream! The Los Angeles Zoo used to have elephant and giraffe rides when my mom was a girl.

      I have not seen the show "Meercat Manor", but my mom says we can try and record it if she can find it on tv.

      I took all of the photos myself. I have my own camera and I like taking pictures.

      Hope you have a great summer!
      Maya

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  3. Great post, Maya. Thanks!

    I haven't been to the zoo in a looooooooooong time, but I do love the monkeys!

    And there used to be a 2-headed (!) snake at the L.A. Zoo. I would go and see him as often as I could, as he was fascinating! I guess he lived a long life there.

    Keep up the good posts!

    Mikki

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    Replies
    1. Dear Mikki,

      I hope that you can meet us at the zoo sometime once the weather cools down, since you live so close. The 2-headed snake is not there anymore, but my mom remembers him.

      Hope you're having a good summer! Come visit soon!
      Maya

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  4. Dear Maya,

    Wow! That is one outstanding blog post! The photos you took were spectacular and really made me feel like I was with you at the Los Angeles Zoo! However, I really smiled when I read your text. I noticed lots of high level vocabulary words, commas in a series, and a lot of quality description! I noticed that you did not capitalize a single animal. That is correct as they are all common nouns. Well done, Maya!

    I really enjoyed looking at the photos and thinking about animal adaptations. The mountain goat is a great climber. They are known for their surefootedness! <---Don't you just love that word! :-) The antelope were so beautiful! I noticed they have very long legs and big ears. Probably great runners who can detect the sounds of predators! Finally, I loved looking at the camouflaged snake. I had a difficult time seeing it!

    Were there many tourists at the zoo? Was there an animal that you wanted to see but couldn't find?

    We are looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at Royce's house!

    Your proud former teacher,
    Mrs. Y♥llis

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    Replies
    1. Dear Mrs. Yollis,

      I am so happy to hear from you... I miss you already! There were alot of tourists at the zoo, but we still had fun. We have an annual pass, so we don't have to wait in line. There was a lizard that I wanted to see in the Lair that I could not find. Also, the lions were sleeping in the tall, wavy grass, hidden in the back.

      Can't wait to see you tomorrow!
      Maya

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