It was chilly last Wednesday when I arrived at the Cincinnati Zoo to take photos of their massive flower display. I found a $2 discount at Krogers to use on the $15 admission price and avoided the $8 parking cost by parking less than a block away on the street. Once inside, I began walking around, taking some photos of some of the animals and searching for the flowers. I saw that bulbs had been planted, but no blooms. I asked an employee and he said they haven’t bloomed yet. I only stayed a couple of hours and didn’t even go into any of the buildings to see animals because my camera would fog up when I did. It’s not that I don’t love animals and taking pictures of them, I guess I feel sorry for them being held captive. But I understand how much knowledge and enjoyment humans receive in doing so.
The Polar Bears were the most playful and active of the bunch…
Swimming to and fro…
You could hear the children ooh and aah as the bears swam underwater…
Nice white lion…
Love shadows…
I found some daffodils…
The White Tigers were feeling lazy and probably bored…
The Snow Leopards were impatient for their snack…
There’s even interesting architecture at the zoo…
The elephants were engaged in their own private conversation…
I posted this photo on my Facebook page and one of my followers told me his wife said this Ape reminds her of him!
The Apes had a nice waterfall to play in…
The Apes were the only animals that seemed to want to hide from people. Makes sense…who wants to be watched most of the time!
Once out of the Zoo, I saw this structure with a beautiful tree on the Zoo’s property…
I’m sure if I go back in a week, everything will be blooming!
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Sherry Lachelle Travels 
Excellent shots, love the polar bears and so nice to see them active, the elephants are beautiful and you’ve capture so much detail of their wrinkly skin 🙂
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Thanks very much!
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I feel the same as you do. I like to see the animals but I feel sorry for them being captive. Then I think of how much it changes people’s attitude towards animals when they see them and learn about them, and I guess it’s worth it to have zoos. Still sad though.
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That’s a good way of explaining it.
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Your photos are just brilliant! I once went to the Chicago Zoo and we had a guided tour. I asked the Zoo Keeper what animal he was the most afraid of. He said that Polar Bears never ever bond with their feeders/keepers and that he would NEVER go in the enclosure.
Sometimes I wonder how sad they must be, or if they even feel it completely.
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Thank you! I’ve heard that about the polar bears also. I think certain animals…like the apes feel the emotions more.
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I love the zoo but sometimes it makes me sad as well. Yoor pictures were so great! What kind of camera do you use?I forget!
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Thanks! An Olympus PEN – the first model. I’m thinking of buying a new one.
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Wow, really great photos!! I LOVE the one of the soaking wet polar bear peeking his head up and out of the water. Really wonderful emotion in these photos 🙂
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Thanks Brittany! He was playful!
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The flowers will be there next time. In the mean time you did get some pretty good images of the locals.
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I like that…”the locals”! 😉
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The Cinci Zoo is one of the best kept secrets in Ohio IMHO. Much is made of the Cols Zoo due to its Curator (J. Hanna), but I have always enjoyed the Cincy Zoo better. Its been a few years since I have been, but your post has solidified my plan to visit it again this year. I love Wolves, and a few years back they were in ‘possesion’ a pair of Mexican wolves and I have a beautiful black and white image (taken on film btw!!) of the male emerging from the man-made den that was constructed for them. Thanks so much for giving this fantastic zoo the recognition it deserves!
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You’re right…our Zoo is great! I’m glad you’ll be able to visit this year!!
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Come to Houston! We’ve got lots of flowers!
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I’d love to…I used to live in Dallas and miss it!
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Nice trip to the zoo …yeah, who would want to be watched all the time? It would be like prison, maybe the apes feel like that. Humans would hate it being observed constantly, especially if they didn’t do anything wrong. Freedom comes to mind. You’ll have to come south because things are a bloomin’! 😉
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Thanks Kim…they’ve actually just started bloomin’ here too! I’m headed to Philly and NYC on Monday for a week, hoping for good weather.
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Wow! Your photos were awesome! I felt like I were there! Too bad about the flowers but you have wonderful pictures of lively animals, except for a few lazy or relaxing ones!
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Thanks…it was fun to try to catch them doing something fun!
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