While at the NY Library Association conference, I slipped away for a brief visit to the Syracuse zoo, officially named the Rosamond Gifford Zoo
A chilly day in November is not the best time to visit, unless you want to avoid crowds. It was like a fall foliage walk with elephants and tigers. If I had a zoo like this near my house, I would get an annual membership and go for weekly walks. It is almost the same size as the Utica Zoo (maybe smaller?)
One building has some water birds and a collection of primates, another building is a barn with a pig, llamas, sheep and goats. Outside is a pond, with flamingos huddled together on one shore. An employee was giving a talk about birds of prey, while holding one ( a hawk? Missed the introduction) there’s one large loop path, wending through the trees. It was so quiet that it I was surprised whenever I came across other people. I saw a tiger pacing through the woods, and because they had kept the woods in their natural condition instead of doing plantings and structure to make it seem more like their homeland, it was a little eerie. I saw a beautiful white wolf, actually walking around instead of hiding or sleeping.
When I returned to the primate building, employees were getting things settled in for the night, and I was able to see this sweet sloth in a keepers arms, gently chewing on his collar.
