Zoo Trip #11: Marwell Wildlife

Just when I was beginning to catch up with my backlog of photos to be post-processed, I only went off to the zoo and came back with another 260 pictures. Even after I'd whittled out the abject failures I was still left with 210 for review.

We had a great time at Marwell Wildlife. The animals all looked healthy and well cared for, there were loads of staff on hand, and the animals had plenty of space available. I'm a particular fan of the big cats and at Marwell there are leopards, snow leopards, cheetahs and tigers (as well as many smaller cats like ocelots, lynxes and servals). I've blipped the wonderful snow leopards twice before so today I have chosen one of their Amur leopards, dozing on his personal raised platform, behind the clear glass. The Bengal tigers were also magnificent and one enormous male was reclining on a bench in the tiger house. His paws were the size of Smokey. The adjacent enclosure on the other side of the path was full of deer and every time a tiger came into view, all eyes were keenly focused on it.

Although this was my fourth visit to the zoo, it was the first time I have been lucky enough to see their Indonesian small-clawed otters, and they were a treat to see, swimming in their lake with freshly caught fish, playing on the banks and then relaxing together enjoying the sun.

I've included a link to the Flickr set which at the time of writing contains the 30 I have post-processed so far (I'm still working on the Blipmeet set of a fortnight ago).

L.
29.4.2011

Lens: Sigma 70-300mm

Blip #397
Consecutive Blip #394

Alternatives:
Hotter Otter
Tiger Paws
The Frustrated Hunter
Kookaburra
White Rhino

Marwell Wildlife (Flickr Set)

Zoo Trip Series

One Year Ago: Reybridge (the first time I'd photographed a heron)