We had originally intended to visit Strataca (the salt mine under Hutchinson) today. Because we had been there before, we decided to go to Wichita to see the Sedgwick County Zoo. It was a beautiful day for exploring a new zoo.
While not as big as the St. Louis Zoo, it is pretty impressive. They have over 3,000 animals and quite the breeding program for critically endangered species. Another neat thing is that the zookeepers are more than happy to tell you all about the animals and answer any questions that you have. One of our first stops for the day was the Humboldt penguins.
We also got to see these “young ones.” The baby of this tortoise group was born in 1967.
A favorite of the kids was Jeb, the alligator snapping turtle. Jeb was pretty interactive with us as we walked by the glass.
A favorite of all of us was the bird flight cage. This place was amazing! Not only were there many different bird species, but there were fruit bats hanging from the trees. I tried to get a picture, but I couldn’t zoom in far enough. I settled for a picture of Andy showing them to Laura.
This is the home of the elephants. The zoo has eight elephants and two of them were born here. They are tripling the size of the elephant area, so they are in a smaller space at the moment. However, there is a large covered gazebo that takes you into the middle of their area where you can sit and just watch them. Also, that building in the background is their indoor playground for inclement weather. It is just very impressive!
Of course, we can’t visit a zoo without seeing the meerkats. These little animals are always so fun to watch.
We also got to see the two orangutan babies. This little guy is 14 months old. They also have a six-month old. They were both so cute!
We finished our day meeting these three. Hello there!
It was a long day, but we very much enjoyed ourselves despite the tired feet. It was a great choice!