A visit to Riverbanks Zoo

We went to the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden in Columbia, South Carolina on Sunday.  The video of the zoo took a lot longer than I thought, it was a tight editing trying to include as much as possible without making it too long but it’s still longer than I had expected.

Columbia, South Carolina is about 148 miles (238 km) from us and it took almost 2 hour 45 minutes to get there by car.  One of the great things about the Internet is that you can check the weather before going and the forecast for Sunday was rain in the morning and cloudy in the afternoon, it was right on the dot.

While I was photographing the elephant I overhead a guy explaining to his friends that the African elephants have tusk and the Asian elephants don’t have one.  He was busied pointing to this one and that one and from his explanation there were both African and Asian elephants in there.  I looked at him and smiled, obvious that he didn’t know his elephants well. You don’t look at the tusk, both elephants have that.  It’s the ears and the body size that you should look at. I couldn’t help myself and proceed to explain to him that the African elephants have big ears and bigger body than the Asian elephants and these are African elephants.

My second sister loves birds and I didn’t ask her and my dad to join us this time because I was afraid that it might rain in the afternoon. These are the lorikeets.

I love this expression, I think it’s a Llama.

This is a Nubian goat.

This was taken through a glass wall, no flash is required.

Galapagos tortoises are the largest of the tortoises, weighing up to 900 pounds.

Giraffes are the tallest living land animals.  The males or bulls can reach up to 19 feet high.

Zebras have a narrow, mostly vertical black and white striped coat. It’s interesting to know that the patterns of their stripes are as individual as a human fingerprint.

African lions are the largest and most powerful of the African carnivores.  This was taken in late afternoon and they were taking a nap.

I spotted a Plumeria or Champa tree.

I think a zoom lens might come in handy here because I certainly don’t want to be near them.  The Ring-tailed lemurs use specialized scent glands located on the inside of their arms to mark their territories. They often rub their tails on these glands and then wave their tails in the air at an intruder as if to say “back off”! This is called stink-fighting.

These are King Vulture, I don’t like the way they looked at me.

This is my first time seeing a real life Toco Toucan.  They are not just a “Fruit Loop” bird.  Toucans use their long, light weight bills to reach onto and pluck food from branches that are too thin to support the weight of their bodies. The bill is actually saw-toothed and may be used to kill and eat small animals such as birds, amphibians and reptiles.

I think this is an Australian Red Kangaroo.

This one is a Red-necked Walleby.

The Gorilla photo was taken through a glass wall.

The Caribbean flamingos look pretty but they smell awful.  I think it’s one of those birds that you either love them or hate them.

Lee had a great time.  Here is a Riverbanks Botanical Garden post.