Ilkeston Cam on Holiday

w/e 13 October 2024
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300
Part 07 - Paignton Zoo
After our busy day in Paignton and Brixham, we spent a more relaxing
day on the morrow mainly at Paignton Zoo and these are just a
few of the many photos taken.

Before we even reached the zoo entrance we passed a pond full
of pink flamingos on our walk from the car park.
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We arrived mid-morning and there was a short queue at the entrance
gates but this quickly diminished and allowed everyone access
to the zoo.
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There is a souvenir shop on the right at the entrance/exit with
a large display of cuddly tigers.We briefly stopped but then
moved on to find the real animals. There would be time to have
another look round the shop on the way out.
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The animals themselves were a little less cuddly and many of
them were still having a lie-in. It's a hard life being a big
cat.
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I think the ring-tailed lemurs too were felling a little antisocial
as most of them had their backs turned to the passing visitors.
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There are some unusual animals in the zoo. This one looking like
a cross between a cow and a zebra is actually a "large,
critically endangered ungulate (hoofed) mammal" of the bovine
family and is known as an Eastern Bongo.
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On our walk around the zoo we crossed a valley on a rickety footbridge
that swayed back and forth and up and down as more people either
climbed on at one end or got off at the other. A more sturdy
structure was crossed with ease by agile swinging orangutans
in their enclosure.
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Like any zoo, Paignton has a variety of creatures from the very
small to the very tall.
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Some of the smaller animals were housed in a circular walled
(for want of a better expression) pit - it reminded me of a much
larger bear pit we had seen in Switzerland many years ago. The
creatures here in Paignton were either sunning themselves in
the open of scuttling under the vegetation. They were about the
size of a large rat or small cat and are dwarf mongooses.
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So we'd seen tall animals and small animals and far too many
others to be shown here but on the way out we also saw some colourful
artificial animals drawing attention to the many endangered species
that live in the wild. The next day would be our last full one
in Paignton and we decided we'd visit Buckfastleigh and the Abbey.
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