Thursday, August 31, 2017

Summer Vacation Redux #8: Omaha: Henry Doorly Zoo, part 8 of 11


On the far side of the Lagoon at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha is a newly developed and still evolving area of African Savannah animals.  You encounter a heard of Eastern Mountain Bongos, an area with African Spurred Tortoise, Sable Antelopes, and African Lions.  To trek takes you to the top of hill, which felt sort of big at the end of a full day of walking.  It's clear that the trails and spaces are new--lots of young plantings make this completely obvious.  The views of the Sable Antelopes and Lions were wonderful and worth the effort.  All of the ten or so Sable Antelopes were female as was clear from their roan colored coats.  The African Lions on view were a pair of sibling males.  One had a darker coat and I attended a trainer talk that explained how his main made him a preferential mating partner.  I asked if there was any sense of rivalry between the two brothers, and neither he nor the young women keeper who joined him could answer that question.
 Sable Antelopes, Hippotragus niger.



 African Lions, Panthera leo.

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