Friday, 7 November 2008

Life - don't talk to me about life!

Contemplative ChimpanzeeToday's title is a quote from Marvin the Depressed Robot in Douglas Adams' Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

On Wednesday I was with one of the Primary School classes on a visit to Edinburgh Zoo to learn more about Uganda and its animals. The main focus of our visit was the Budongo Forest in Uganda, where Edinburgh Zoo has a partnership with a local research and conservation group.

The Zoo's new Chimpanzee House is called the Budongo Trail. It is a very imaginative place, with three big interconnected indoor areas, as well as a large outdoor 'forest' area.

The Chimpanzees were very active - even although the eldest is approaching 50 years old. However, as with people, some of the time they spend resting. And it's much easier to take photos of resting animals than it is when they are more active!

Restful but Watchful Chimpanzee
Hence the photo above - with the Chimpanzee watching all that is going on - while resting at the same time. Both of these Chimpanzee photos reminded me of the Marvin quote!

And then after lunch we had an hour to explore the Zoo in smaller groups - and the European Owl below was perched on the boulder, rotating its head around through almost 360 degrees, keeping its eyes on everything going on round about it.
All-seeing Owl

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