A Photo Caravan Adventure
Posted at 10:24 am January 28, 2005 by Debbie Andreen
We members of the San Diego Zoo’s Web Services Division have pretty cool jobs. But every now and then it’s nice to get out from behind our computers and get in touch with the animals that are so much a part of our Web site. We did just that by taking a Photo Caravan Safari tour at the San Diego Zoo’s Wild Animal Park!
Before the tour started, Jeanne, our Photo Caravan guide, told us about some of the critters we would be seeing on our journey and passed around various horns and antlers for us to examine. Then we hopped aboard the caravan truck that would take us right into two of the Park’s amazingly large field exhibits.
The first animals to greet us were the stately giraffes. Eagerly surrounding our truck, the giraffes graciously accepted high-fiber biscuits right out of our hands. What a thrill to get almost eye to eye with these majestic creatures, and to feel their strong tongues gently wrap around each biscuit I had to offer! I very much wanted to touch them (it would have been easy as they were so close), but Jeanne had told us giraffes don’t like to be petted, so I complied.
The truck then rumbled on through the East Africa field exhibit, stopping often to show us herds of wildebeest, gazelles, waterbucks, and gaurs. Jeanne pointed out a baby gazelle tucked up against a palm tree by its mother for safety and explained different strategies mother animals use to protect their young. Other fun stuff I learned: wildebeest saliva actually helps grass grow; and the Park has a special machine that sucks up pellet-shaped droppings just like those machines that suck up golf balls on the driving range!
My favorite stop was in the Asian Plains exhibit to feed Jakichu, nicknamed Jackie, a pregnant Indian rhino. Jackie stood right next to the truck with her huge mouth wide open, willing to accept any and all apple slices dropped into it. She even let us touch her rubbery upper lip and thick horn, as long as we kept those apples coming!
Debbie Andreen is the San Diego Zoo’s Web site editor.
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