Yorkshire wildlife

It's still school holidays here, and with Josh and Ruth both working today, Richard and I had arranged to take Eben out on a day trip. We picked Yorkshire Wildlife Park, as none of the three of us has ever visited it.
I have mixed feelings about large animals being kept in any kind of confinement.  There are polar bears there, as well as giraffe, rhinos and Amur tigers.   However, R and I knew that the wildlife park has commitments to conservation and animal welfare, and were curious to see it in action. We were pleasantly surprised, on the whole - loads of space, lots of interesting info about climate change and conservation work.

Loads of space for the human visitors too - just as well. The park only reopened a few days ago, and there were crowds of pre-Covid proportions today. In some ways this was oddly comforting; almost like a mental escape from the whole pandemic thing. Masks had to be worn in confined spaces, such as the loos, but otherwise... it all just looked and felt "normal".
Eben particularly loved the various play areas. The photo shows the best of them. He gave himself a fright by climbing up this structure enthusiastically... then taking a tumble somewhere inside, and emerging rather tearfully for a cuddle. Then he went back up again.  While children rush up and down the structure, you can see various parents and grandparents around the outside, faces turned up and ears cocked to try to figure out where their little ones have got to. Good times had by all.