Just down the street from the Fort Worth Botanical Garden and Fort Worth Japanese Garden I don't remember the Fort Worth Zoo being on the list we could get in free with our Miller Park Zoo membership but we made one visit anyway just because we really like zoos and need to see our friends and relatives occasionally.
This is one of my first really nice Cheetah pictures since they are normally hiding. Probably Lori's favorite is the rhino. This here is a black rhino with the lip adapted for the leaves and small bushes it normally eats. The white or wide mouth rhino has a flat chin for cropping grasses off close to the ground.
At first glance this picture of the hippo looks like a gator and no it is not in the same pond as the swans. You may notice a theme here that I was trying to get more pictures up close and personal focusing on the eye and hoping to catch it looking right back at me.
I'm amazed that birds can sleep in this contortionist position which looks to be extremely unstable in any wind.
Don't quote me but I think the bear is a sun bear which as of 2017 when I'm writing this is no longer at the zoo. Unfortunately the animals may live longer at the zoo be none of us live forever and zoos also swap animals trying to breed endangered species.
My favorite is the wart hog and as long as I waited I just could not get him to look up from mowing the grass. Actually having this much grass for a grazing animal is unusual. Zoos typically have limited space and need to keep the enclosures limited so the animals are visible and the grass takes a beating.
The gorilla exhibit was another that with careful positioning makes the animals look almost like they were in their natural environment. The abundance of rock is probably a little fakey but there are mountain gorillas. I especially like the guy just lounging by the waterfall seemingly without a care in the world.
With a long beard this guy looks like a classic billy goat gruff and could give you a good firm butt off the bridge if you don't get out of the way really really quick.
Here are a few more shots from the African exhibit and the gazelles that seem to be barely a cheetah sized snack. They can probably run really fast but lack the heft we are more used to seeing in a grazing animal.
Lastly going down under is the Kangaroo. I realize the aquarium picture is not the greatest with the position I had to use, but the triple dorsal fin is just so unusual I wanted to include it.