Trail of the Tiger

 Yesterday the sun finally decided to shine so we surprised Maddie with a trip to the brand new exhibit at our local zoo.

The new exhibits look great but most of the animals weren't ready to explore too much. The information guides said it will probably take about a year or so for the animals to become familiar enough with their new homes to really explore. Despite the fact that the animals aren't exactly enjoying the exhibit yet I have to say the zoo did a phenomenal job, everything looks great!

This is a pile of Binturongs (Mercedes, Rungus and Suzy). They are often called bear cats and they smell like buttered popcorn!

 Yes that is a reflection of my baby bump in the glass!

The Siamangs are named Bali and Hitam and so far only spend time in their indoor playroom. They have a great outdoor play area that hopefully they will enjoy this summer! The zoo did manage to get a few male and female pairs of animals so fingers are crossed for a bunch of babies next spring!

The Orangutans are a bit hard to see too because they are also hanging out in their indoor playroom but Schnitz the male looks like he is wearing a giant raggedy blanket. Pepper the female tends to be a bit more adventurous but she was napping when we went for a visit.

The Asiatic Black Bears (Thai and Chai) were the most active yesterday and we had a chance to watch them romp through their mini bamboo forest and wrestle in the water!

I posted a picture a few weeks ago from the member's only sneak peek of the Tapir and I have to say they are still my favorite. Such a strange looking animal! Apparently they are in the horse family but to me they look like stunted elephants with blankets on their backs. The zoo has two tapirs named Rimba and Annie, Annie is the one in the pictures.

The White-Cheeked Gibbons have been hanging out in their exhibit for about a month now so they are pretty active. Apparently gibbons are one of the more vocal primates and when Maddie and I were visiting a few weeks ago you could hear them from the other end of the zoo, they sounded like an ambulance siren!

Maddie was thrilled to see a craft tent set up outside the new exhibit and loved decorating her own Barong mask.

So you may have noticed one important animal missing from the Trail of the TIGER. Yup, the new brother tigers (Tahan and Kadar) aren't very fond of their exhibit yet and were not willing to come out for viewing!

I have to confess no I did not memorize the names of all the animals, or all the cool facts.... the zoo gave out fantastic coloring books for the kiddos full of information!