Family outing at the zoo last weekend...

[Zenrider]

my brother and his family were in town last weekend, so we went to the Zoo. I know some of Peter's fans aren't fond of zoos, but the Brookfield Zoo holds many fond childhood memories for my family and me. My grandparents were long time members and I went to many Zoo events with them over the years. As for my zoo memories, they were transitioning from small cages to habitats when I was a small child. I saw the empty cages some of the animals were kept at one time, but only saw the animals in their ever changing and expanding habitats. Brookfield Zoos efforts and sometimes sacrifices in the name of conservation and reintroducing animals to the wild to help the struggling populations of those animals find the genetic diversity to sustain those populations has been considerable. Anyway, this was my favorite picture I took that day. The youngster came back again, but I just stayed in the moment that time around. Dolphins, the horses of the sea...

[beef]

Beautiful photo Zenrider - and an amazing personal history for you with that zoo must make it impossible not to return! As you say, the fact that zoos exist at all does raise difficult questions - humans don't give animals a choice where they live either in zoos or whatever remains of their natural habitats. But good zoos do good conservation and educational work and I think it's usually clear to visitors whether the animals are cared for properly.