Zuri & Safi - 2nd & 9th May 2013

Here we go everyone, back to the usual posts. Zuri & Safi need no introduction to regular readers of the blog i'm sure.

I absolutely love seeing these two every working day at the zoo, and I always go and see them before I leave, and on this particular day I had my camera with me so I thought i'd take a few photos of them. I know they are not the best quality (he wasn't quite far enough to focus out the wire completely) but I think they show Zuri off really well. He is just such a casual laid back lion, much like any domestic cat to be honest, as you can see him licking his paws and pulling funny faces inbetween his yawns. He really is a superb lion and I hope he makes you all smile whilst looking at him on this post. 

As you can see only Safi came over to say hello this time, while Zuri who acknowledged my presence was too busy in the sun to come over and say hello, I personally don't really blame him!

The last few photos were taken on the ninth of May, the pair were more active that evening and both Zuri & Saf came over to say hello while I came over to say goodbye before going home.

My favourite photo from this set, showing Zuri & Safi having a quick kiss as Safi goes over to say hello. All lions are affectionate and the lions at Linton Zoo are no different.

It really is a pleasure to see these two every single day at the zoo, and I love being able to spend time with them once I have finished and the zoo is closed, it is definately very special.

I hope you all have enjoyed looking at these photos, I am sure you did not require any information on these two if you are regular readers of the blog. However if you are new, there are many many other posts showing photos of the pair but also for a bit of their history look on the Linton Lions page.

Cheers

James

Whipsnade Zoo Lions - 7th May 2013

Only a small number of photos here i'm afraid. These were taken an impulse afternoon visit to Whipsnade Zoo last week! With the weather being great I thought it would be a nice idea to take my sister there for a couple of hours. As I am a fellow of the Zoological Society Of London I get myself and a guest in for free, so I do intend to make good use of it! It was a lovely afternoon and very hot aswell so no surprise to myself that the lions seemed to be in a rather dozy mood. 

However one of the zoos free range small deer managed to get inbetween the public and lion fences which caused great interest to one of the lionesses as you can see below. It was fantastic to watch and I was so pleased with the photo that I got out of it! One of the best things about Whipsnade is definately the view that you get of the lions ontop of their hill, I have to say I am not too keen on the big glass viewing area but the enclosure itself is superb featuring a large number of mature trees giving plenty of cover and privacy along their hills and ditches. 

Hopefully more photos will be up as I am sure that I will visit Whipsnade some time very soon. I hope you have all enjoyed looking at these photos, it really is great to see zoos looking so much greener now that we have entered the spring and summer seasons, everything looks so lush at the moment, and the lions really do look superb in amongst the British countryside.

Cheers

James

Woburn Safari Park - 23rd April 2013 - Afternoon

Hello everyone! And apologies for the lateness of this follow up post from my visit to Woburn Safari Park. Times have been very busy at work what with the start of the Summer Season so I have been unable to do a few things on here that I have planned! But things seemed to have calmed down a bit so I am now able to post my last set of photos from my visit to Woburn Safari Park.

These photos were taken just before I left, at around five o'clock just as the lions were being herded back down their reserve into their house and night quarters. Their brand new house, completed about two years ago has a paddock build especially so that they can go outside during the night and when they are offshow for any reason. This is a much better situation than their previous house which was a small long and narrow indoor house with not much space at all, especially if they were off reserve during the winter season.   However as you can see in the photos so of the rubble that once made the old house is still present in the reserve, I am surprised that it has not been removed! 

So please enjoy all of these photos, it really was great to see the whole pride moving together, it really was a superb view. 

In the picture below you can really see the huge size difference between one of the castrated boys and one of the females. They are absolutely huge compared to the girls. This is not surprising as their brother Riziki at Linton Zoo is just as big, probably one of the largest lions in the country. However I do feel that all the castrated boys are missing their manes to complete them, they still look really butch, a bit of a shame that they have no manes.

Below is one of my favourite pictures from the day. On both visits to Woburn in the last six months on both occasions there has been a female who always gave the keepers a pretty hard time to get in, and she certainly didn't give way even head on with one of the landrovers! Needless to say she was eventually herded in, but they stayed in this pose for quite a while as she reluctantly gave in and went in pursuit of the rest of the group.

I hope everyone has enjoyed looking at these photos and if you want to see the other photos from my visit they are on the links below....

• Kasanga Photos
• Pride photos from the morning.

Keep reading the blog everyone, I will post as frequently as I can.

Cheers

James