DENVER, -- -- I cannot remember the last time I went to a zoo, but it was most likely for an elementary or middle school field trip to the Bronx Zoo in New York. Recently however, I decided it was well past time that I took a trip to the Denver Zoo.
I bought my ticket online through their website, to ensure I could get into the zoo if it was busy. It was not too busy when I got there, but because I bought my ticket online, I was able to skip the ticketing line and scan the barcode on my phone upon entering instead.
I had a blast wondering around and I felt like a kid again gazing at all the different animals and watching them roam around. There were so many opportunities to learn about the animals, their natural habitats and their natural way of life.
The zoo is set up in a kind of loop, with paths and sections that branch off but you will always end up back on the main path eventually. I saw lions, tigers and bears (oh my!), zebras, mountain goats, big horn sheep, birds of all kinds, many different reptiles, monkeys, flamingos, a rhinoceros, a hippopotamus, black crowned cranes, African buffalos, hyenas and so much more. I also watched penguins playfully dive into the water, a baby gazelle stand on its hind legs to reach tall trees, a giraffe try to eat a metal wire fence and a gorilla play hide and seek with his blanket and the crowd.
The highlight of my zoo trip came when I was in the elephant passage and one of them walked by and smiled for me and my camera. I must have stood there and watched the elephants roam around their habitats for at least twenty minutes. Did you know their tusks do not conduct electricity, and their front feet are shock proof as well? So, the Denver Zoo has to experiment with how to keep them inside their habitats, since electric fences aren’t the best option.
There were also educational opportunities all across the zoo, much like my elephant fun fact above. I learned of animals I have never heard before, like the tenrec. The tenrec is a mammal that is found in Madagascar and parts of Africa and they can closely resemble a hedgehog, but they are in fact unrelated. I also learned of a bird called a bali myna, a horse-looking animal called an eastern bongo and a few others.
I had a blast visiting the zoo and seeing all the animals, some of which event interacted with the crowd watching them. If you take a trip down, let us know your favorite moment!