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| - If you can, visit the zoo with a small child and see the exhibits through their eyes.
For my birthday my husband surprised me by taking the day off work and taking me and my 19 month old daughter to the zoo. Yay! Last time I was there I could hardly be called a responsible adult and I was so excited to show my daughter all the animals from her picture books in real life.
As expected she got a huge kick out of the orangutans, the rhino, fish, the gorillas (baby gorilla was hiding unfortunately), the turtles, and we laughed when she got totally freaked out by a free range fowl in one of the pavillions.
Inevitably she fell asleep in the stroller and we decided to make the most of our $23 per person admission price and keep touring and taking photos to show the kid later. And that's when we noticed the forlornness of the arctic wolf's howl as she answered the passing train and that the wolves live in an enclosure smaller than the off-leash park my dogs get to visit each day. One of the polar bears was in the midst of what I can only assume to be an OCD-like-tic, shuffling into the corner, pawing it and then backing out again - I watched him do it at least 8 times. The painted outback scenery behind the wallabies was sad and shabby.
It would've been nice to know from the zoo website if certain animals like the elephants wouldn't be showing. While it was a relatively mild winter day, we should've guessed that even then it would be too cold for them. There is however a whiteboard right before the entrance gate listing the renovations and animals not on display.
On the plus side we pretty much had the zoo to ourselves and got a sweet parking spot right at the front. The jellyfish were hauntingly beautiful and one of the otters was playing, adorably, with the neighbouring beaver even thought they were separated by thick plexiglass.
So yeah, if you don't have your own kids, find a niece or nephew or whatever and watch them watch the zoo animals. It's way more fun that way.
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