Welcome To The Oakland Zoo

Photographic Essay Contest. I had never been to the Oakland Zoo before and was looking for a zoo not too far away from home that had lots of animals.  There is a zoo in San Francisco, but I decided on the Oakland Zoo because they have elephants and the San Francisco Zoo does not.  The Zoo is nationally known for its elephants and has been praised for allowing their elephants to roam freely. The Oakland Zoo, was once known as the Knowland Zoo, it is  located in southeastern Oakland.  The zoo is Nestled in the rolling hills of 525-acre Knowland Park, the Zoo is located at 9777 Golf Links Rd., Oakland off Highway 580, and is home to more than 440 native and exotic animals. Many of its animals are kept in relatively "natural" habitats, and that was an important factor in my decision to visit this zoo.  We went on a Thursday, and arrived at the opening time of 10:00 A.M and the zoo was not crowded at all.  

My granddaughter Stephanie is on the left walking toward the gate.  The admission to get in was very reasonable.  Adults 13-54  $9.50, Seniors 55 and older and children 2-12 was $6.00.  Parking was $6.00

The first thing we saw as we walked in the front gate was the Lesser Flamingo and the African Spoon Bill display.

The Lesser Flamingo is locally common on alkaline lakes in East and Central Africa, sometimes present in vast (up to a million) numbers. Very infrequent in coastal areas.

He was definitely showing off for the Flamingos but none of them seemed very interested!

The African Spoonbill lives in Lakes, marshes, rivers, estuaries of Africa from Ethiopia to Kenya to South Africa as well as the lowlands of Madagascar.  The Spoonbill Has a long spatulate bill, the inside of which reacts to touch, causing the bill to snap shut on its prey. Also has long bare legs for wading.

The Zoo is broken up into different sections

There are several sections to the Zoo.  We decided to see the big cats and Elephants first.   

What a beautiful Tiger

There were 2 Tigers that we could see, I don't know if there were more or not.    The best time to see the cats is before it gets too hot, because they retreat to cooler areas and can't be seen.  We saw the Tigers first thing.  There are Lions too, but they aleady were in the thick brush and we only got a glimpse of them. 

Tigers are Found throughout India from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, except in the deserts. (Other races are found in Burma, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Java, and Bali.) Prefered habitats include dense thickets, long grass, or tamarisk shrubs along river banks. Some seem to have special fondness for cover in old ruins.

We headed over to see the  African Elephants, just a short walk away.

Isn't he magnificent?  The adult male is much larger than the adult female. Head and body length including trunk: 19-24 feet. Shoulder height: 10-13 feet. Weight: 5.5 - 7 tons. Tail: 4 feet. Brownish gray skin has folds and may be one inch thick in places. The African Elephant has a marked dip between its fore and hindquarters giving a concave curvature to its back. Ears are large and fan-like. The trunk has two prehensile protrusions at the tip. Large tusks are present in both sexes. Elephants are digitigrade with pads of fibrous tissue to cushion toe bones. 

Natural home range is 500 miles; migratory patterns are taught from one generation to the next. Now they are mostly restricted to parks and preserves. Habitat formerly was area south of the Sahara; agricultural expansion has severely reduced it. Highly adaptable, elephants can survive in forest, bush or savannah.

 "Reticulated" Giraffe       We couldn't resist the Giraffes, they are just so cute!

This Giraffe's Head-body length is 12-15 ft.; height to horn tips is 15-18 ft.; weight is 1700-4200 lbs (males). Females are a foot or two shorter and a couple of hundred pounds lighter. Both sexes have horns, although the females’ horns are smaller. G.c.reticulata is a bit smaller than the other subspecies. Varieties are told apart largely by pattern. Reticulated are characterized by large polygons separated by cream-colored lines rather like a large net thrown over a colored ground, hence the name "reticulated" giraffe. Color ranges from tan to deep chocolate brown, especially in old males who tend to darken as they age. They like Open woodland and wooded grassland throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Reticulated giraffe are confined to north-eastern Kenya, eastern Sudan and Eritrea. 

The Giraffe has valves in his neck that control blood flow to his head when he is bending over.  That way he won't get dizzy and fall over.

These are just a few of the animals in the African Savannah, there are also Zebras, camels, all kinds of different birds and many, many other animals too numerous to mention here.

The zoo has lovely folage and flowers as well as great animals.  There were many flowers and plants that cought my eye.

  Beautiful aren't they?  I'm sorry but I have no idea what they are.  If anyone knows please let me know.

   They are all so lovely they took my breath away and I HAD to get photos of all of them!  LOL... You know me and flowers! :-)  

 We had to visit the children's Zoo which was down in the "valley"  we walked down a lovely tree lined path to the zoo.  In the children's zoo you will find Rabbits, the bug house, the reptile house, and petting zoo.  Walking back up the path was a little challenging, but there are benches and places to sit and rest all along the path, so it wasn't too bad.

           Tarantula 

There are so many more bugs here.

Kinda creeped me out!

Giant Grasshoppers.  Doing What comes Naturally! Hope I don't get tagged for this one! LOL!                                                                                    

   Bug Display

During the Summer of 2005 the thee-acre Valley Children's Zoo opened with spacious new animal exhibits along with plenty of interactive play-structures for children. The Ring-Tailed Lemurs, century old Aldabra Tortoises, the interactive Goat and Sheep Contact yard along with the River Otters can be found in the Children’s Zoo. The popular American Alligators, the Bats, the Pot-Bellied Pigs, the Old-World Rabbits along with the Bug Room, and the Reptile and Amphibian Discovery Room are also in the Children’s Zoo. One of the most interesting and popular features with the smaller children are the brass insects embedded in the concrete walkways, which were installed as a form of public art.

  REPTILES                                         RABBITS                               SHEEP AND GOATS

Lizard

Thank you for coming on our Oakland Zoo Trip with us.  I wish I could have shown you all the animals, bugs, and reptiles that we saw.    I will be posting more zoo photos on my Gather page in the near future.  Keep on the look out if you want to see more.  There are some there now if you care to look. 

 Oh, I have to share one more photo with you.

 African Hut Made completely from Elephant Dung!     

How would you like to live in this Hut?  It is normal housing in Africa.

ALL PHOTOS WERE TAKEN BY TRUDY PARKS

Panasonic FZ7 Digital Camera