A day at the zoo ...

As many know, I live in Missouri. Upper west end of Missouri. It has been COLD the last few weeks, so when yesterday had reasonably nice weather and I managed to have the day off of work, we decided to head up to Kansas City and visit the zoo. http://www.kansascityzoo.org/

One of the Christmas gifts my husband and I purchased for our daughter (and ourselves) was a membership, so that we could head out there any time we wanted and the weather permitted.

Yesterday was one of those days.

A large chunk of the zoo, the African exhibit, was of course closed due to the weather, but we were able to visit fairly up close with some of the animals, since there weren't large crowds.

One of the zoos two Sumatran tigers was very active, and we were treated to it sitting right up against the bars of its exhibit, watching birds fly around. It flicked its tail, and rumbled a few times, and I have to say even though it is the smallest of the tigers, this is no house cat. The sheer power and size of these animals, especially from less than 10 feet away is amazing.

http://www.kansascityzoo.org/Visit/Index.asp?IdS=000386-D80C290&Reference=407&~=

I am really looking forward to around March 1st when the African section opens back up. The zoo is also going to be adding a River Otter exhibit, a favorite of ours from other zoos. We are looking forward to that as well.

After we visited the zoo, we stopped by the Lakeseide Nature Center, which is located right by the zoo. http://www.lakesidenaturecenter.org/

They have several birds of prey there that have been injured and are no longer able to live in the wild. Many can't even fly anymore. The way they have their viewing area set up, it is possible to see these graceful animals fairly close up.

I am glad that we stopped and took a look. Many of the conservation centers/nature centers done by state conservation agencies or parks and rec have a lot of things that most people don't know about. Looking at Lakeside, I certainly wouldn't have thought it housed such an incredible display.

Michelle