Thursday, November 19, 2020

BIG CATS AT NORFOLK ZOO

Just a note to let you know that I wrote this post several years ago, and any information on the animals, statistic and so on, may be out of date now.

There are two wonderful sculptures that I like at the zoo.  One is at the entrance.  It is an African elephant created by Matthew Gray Palmer of Friday Harbor, Washington.  He calls it "All Things Within All Things".  Not only does it hold a golden butterfly on the tip of its trunk, if you look closer you will see the elephant is made up of thousands of aluminum butterflies (10,000 to be exact), and if you look at that golden butterfly more closely, you will see that the wings are the side view of  an elephant.  You can see more photos here.
Here is my other favorite.  A tiger standing in the front of the Trail of the Tiger exhibit.  The tiger sculpture was erected in honor of the two beloved Siberian Tigers Shere Khan and Shaka Khan.  



Below are photos I took of one of the two Malayan tigers.  The exhibit now houses Kadar and Tahan.  It was fun to see them so clearly.  According to what I read, "Malayan tigers are endangered and recent counts showed there may be as few as 600 in the wild.  
It is perhaps the smallest subspecies of tiger, with an average weight of nearly 300 pounds for adult males, and just over 200 pounds for females.  They are found in the tropical forests of the southern and central Malay Peninsula."


We were also very lucky to get some decent shots of the African Lions.  I read the following on the website's information page.  The male lion weighs 364 pounds and its mate weighs 344 pounds.    African lions are found throughout the south Sahara desert and in parts of southern and eastern Africa.  








When we first arrived we heard the male lion roaring.  He was very vocal and you felt that roar reverberate right through your body!    
He almost looks like he is smiling in this one doesn't he?
One last shot, nothing to do with the rest, but it caught my eye.  A toucan made from an old tire.

And that's it for our trip to the National Zoo, a very nice memory with the hope that we will revisit one day.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your week.



29 comments:

  1. My favorite is the elephant & butterfly. It is totally amazing that the butterfly looks like the elephant, two such very different creatures! Next would be the tire Toucan. These are very talented people.

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    1. I agree, people are incredibly talented, and even to come up with the idea of creating this beautiful elephant with all those butterflies. Just amazes me :)

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  2. I did not know lions were so heavy. Wow!

    I love the art work.

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    1. It's beautiful isn't it? I was surprised about the lions when I found out.

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  3. Gosh... I can't remember the last time I was at the zoo. I think my grandson was still a baby. Thank you for sharing these photos, Denise. I love that butterfly elephant.

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    1. Thank you Kay and you are very welcome. Maybe you will take your grandson the next time you go to the zoo :)

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  4. Beautiful, beautiful photos - and I love the sculptures. Thank you.

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  5. Gorgeous photos you have there.
    Love the elephant.
    Take care.

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  6. That elephant statue if amazing. Thanks for all the beautiufl photos of the big cats. Love them all but grand tigers are my favorite.

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    1. Hi Carol, those tigers are amazing aren't they? Thank you :)

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  7. Hello,

    I love the animals, lions and tigers are beautiful. The sculptures are beautiful. The Toucan is cool. Take care, enjoy your day!

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    1. Thank you so much Eileen, take care also and have a great Friday :)

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  8. These are great, I love the smiling lion! :)

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  9. Love the elephant!

    Really like not-solid-such-art!!!!

    ✨✨✨✨

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  10. That is a pretty good use for an old tire!

    A friend told me once of a friend of hers who, as a child living in Malaysia, was told to watch out for tigers when walking through the forest to school. 😳

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    1. I agree Sandi :) Goodness, I can't imagine walking to school with that fear.

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  11. I want that guy wasn't that is absolutely gorgeous. Truly amazing and gifted artist! I like all the art and I had no idea that Lions weighed that much I guess I never really thought about how much they weigh wow.

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    1. Thanks Sandra, he truly is :) Glad you enjoyed my post.

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  12. Dziękuję, bardzo się cieszę, że mogę korzystać z Tłumacza Google. Mam nadzieję, że nie mam wielu błędów gramatycznych :) Lubię odwiedzać Wasz bardzo ciekawy blog i przesyłam wam ciepłe życzenia.

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  13. The sculptures are fascinating, and those big cats are amazing.

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