Lions and Monkeys and Flamingos, Oh My!

Here are more pics of Lincoln Park Zoo. The flamingos are finally out. They’re very pretty. And I don’t like pink.

And I finally got to get a pic of the monkeys. I still haven’t had much luck getting pics of the gorillas. Working on it. Anyway, I want this “jungle gym” in my apartment. That would be so much fun.

The Amur Leopard was chowing down on this trip. Usually he’s moving too much to get a shot, or he’s sleeping, which is boring to watch. But he was ripping through whatever meat they’d given him.

Nice markings. Gorgeous animal.

I really want one as a pet. So cuddly.

Finally, the lion has gotten comfortable with his new home and is taking charge of it. I wrote this on my Facebook wall on May 25 – so exciting!

So Thursday afternoon I hit the zoo on my walk, per the norm. Had my music blasting in my ears, when I saw that the lion finally came out of the tunnel.

Every time I’ve been there, he just paces back and forth between his indoor and outdoor enclosures, never getting out far enough to really see him.

He was just introduced to the zoo in April, so he was probably pretty ticked off to not be “home.”

Anyway, I’m standing there watching him. He’s just outside of his little tunnel and you can see that he’s sort of roaring. I didn’t bother to take off my headphones. I was just enjoying the view.

Then he let out this enormous roar. I mean E-NOR-MOUS. It reverberated through my body, it drowned out my loud music… and it was the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.

I got my headphones off in time to hear a second one.

I’ve heard tigers and leopards and panthers roar, pretty loud, definitely intimidating, but this… this was amazing.

His name is Sahar, but I have renamed him Twinkie because he looks like one when he’s lying in the grass and you can’t see his head or tail.

I can’t wait until his mane grows out!
—
All photos were taken by me, Letricia Brooks. Feel free to use them for whatever you want. Attribution or a link back to my site would be nice, but not required.