A Day at the Zoo – part 2

Are you ready to continue our walk through the Berlin Zoo? 😉 Then let´s begin!

After having strolled through the monkey´s house, I headed straight to that part of the Zoo that holds many of my very favorite animals.

One of them are seals of all kinds. I can never stop admiring their streamlined elegance and playfulness 🙂

The pool that holds the sea lions offers a special treat for the animals, an artificial whitewater system that provides the animals with a rough “sea”. The sea lions clearly enjoy this time of day most, as it is usually turned on an hour or so before the feeding 😉

Californian Sealion barking, March 2017

Next to the seals you´ll find another little pool and some boulders providing a small cave system for the African penguins, or “Brillenpinguine” (Eyeglasses Penguins) as they are called in German. This little fellow waved at me and of course I had to wave right back. 😉 There´s also almost always a heron present, keeping them company and most likely hoping to snatch away a fish or two. 😉

African penguin and visiting heron, March 2017

A bit further on our way we reach the pool where the beavers live. Visitors can watch them swimming in the pool or catch a glimpse of them through a series of small windows inserted on one side of their dam.

A Beaver enjoying a swim, March 2017

To watch them in their dam, you have to take a few steps below the ground and press your nose against the glass because it´s a bit dark in there. This day though it was the other way round – the sun reached into the little visitor´s cave and a beaver startled me because it was pressing its nose against the other side of the glass 😉 Providing me thus with this photograph. 🙂

Another beaver nibbling on a carrot, March 2017

This corner of the zoo also holds a special building for the Emperor Penguins, where the temperatures are always kept very low – a nice refuge on a hot summer´s day 😉

This pool is quite deep and visitor´s are often surprised by a penguin shooting up from the deep. 😉 And some of the penguins like to come up close to the glass and watch the funny humans crouching before them 😉

Who´s watching who? Emperor Penguins and humans ;), March 2017

Emperor penguin gliding through the water, March 2017

Now we leave the semiaquatic animals and head over to my very favorite animals – the wolves! In the Berlin Zoo we have a pack of Arctic Wolves who are lighter in color throughout the year, given to their natural habitat the polar circle.

The solidarity in an arctic wolf pack is even more pronounced than in packs of other subspecies of the wolf. A single arctic wolf could not survive long in the harsh climate. A pack consists of seven to ten, sometimes up to 30 animals.

Arctic wolf approaching me, staying on the other site of the visitor´s window, March 2017

Normally the wolves are keeping their distance from the visitor´s window, preferring to have a lie down a bit farther from the noisy humans. This time though something quite extraordinary happened – I had a little flirt with one of the wolves!

He (or she, I´m not quite certain, and really I couldn’t care less) came up extremely close to the window, lied down and flirted with me! That is to say, he/she looked me quite deeply in the eyes, blinked, made a woolfy grin, closed his/her eyes, and looked up to me again. This went on for quite some time, and I have to admit that I felt extremely flattered. 🙂 Somehow it seemed that the wolf knew exactly how much I love them…

Arctic wolf having a lie down next to me, March 2017

Although I had my camera out, I was so entranced by this occurrence that I nearly forgot to take some pictures!

Arctic wolf looking straight at me, march 2017

And before you start making jokes about the wolf just lusting after a little snack, let me make clear that they had been fed before 😉

No, this was definitely love at first sight. 🙂

Let´s continue our walk now and visit the Polar Bears!

Polar bear enjoying a swim on a hot day, March 2017

Currently the Berlin Zoo has two polar bears, and I´m sure you´ve all heard of the little cub called Knut a couple of years ago (2006). People from all over the world came to visit him and Berlin. He was raised by hand by one of the zoo keepers, Thomas Dörflein, who died suddenly in September 2008 of a heart attack, aged 44. About a year before the live-shows that had starred Knut and his keepers were put to stop because Knut had reached a weight of about 90 kg and it was deemed too dangerous to continue the close handling and the interactions with humans.

Up to this day many Berliners believe that Thomas Dörflein, though diagnosed with bladder cancer and then suddenly dying of a heart attack, couldn’t bear (no pun intended) the separation and in truth died of a broken heart.

Knut died in 2011 of an encephalitis, and is, like his “father” dearly missed.

This polar bear preferred to stay dry, March 2017

Memorial for Knut the Polar Bear, March 2017

We are now leaving the polar bears and head over to their relatives, the sloth bears!

Having already shared with you that I´m very fond of sloths, it should be of no surprise that sloth bears follow close 😉

There´s currently a sloth bear cub to be admired at our zoo but luck would have it that I only catched a glimpse of it and its mother before they hurried back inside for a little nap. They were too quick for my camera but I hope to remedy that next time I visit.

Sloth bear standing on his hindlegs and impressing the children with his height, March 2017

This leaves us with the Nasua, or “Nasenbären” (nose bear) as they are called in German. These little cuties are always in action it seems and are also well known for stealing away every visitor´s heart in a second. 😉

Nasua on the move, March 2017

There are many more animals to admire at the Berlin Zoo but as for now, our little walk has come to an end. But I promise to post more pictures from another visit as soon as I make it! 🙂

Hope you had fun! And thank you for joining me! 🙂