IX: Taking a Walk on the Wild SIde

I don't recall visiting a zoo as a kid. Sure, I went to Busch Gardens Tampa, which is part zoo and part theme park. This was in the days before Disney opened up their bigger, better, more expensive version, Animal Kingdom. And, of course, I watched Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom every Sunday night with Marlin Perkins and his erstwhile assistant, Jim. I fondly recall Marlin narrating the day's adventures and Jim nearly getting gored, eaten, trampled, or molested by the local wildlife. Only by the grace of God, fancy foot-work and judicious editing did Jim avoid those life theatening (and embarassing) engagements.

Last weekend, I bundled myself onto the U-bahn once again, and set out to visit the Wilhelma Zoo, conveniently located here in Stuttgart. The closer I got to the zoo entrance, the larger the percentage of children onboard the train. Happily, I realized I could follow my fellow animal lovers to the entrance of said zoo. The price was quite reasonable: 11.40 EUROS, that's less than $20, for those who are interested.

My first impression of the place was a vague recollection of The Wizard of Oz. Allow me to explain. When Dorothy is caught in the twister and plunked down in Munchkin Land crushing the first Wicked Witch, she opens the door to a world in technicolor. No longer is she relegated to a Sepia-tone environment. I was similarly stunned. Flowers stretched out in multiple hues, reds, oranges, blues, yellows, all on a field of green green grass. It was somewhat breath-taking. I whipped out my trusty Fuji digital camera and started snapping pics.

YOU CAN VIEW THEM HERE!

I saw all kinds of birds, fish, African Safari-type critters and their famous new resident, Wilbur the baby Polar Bear. Wilbur was born in December 2007, so he's not even a year old. He frolics to the delight of young and old alike in a huge outdoor swimming pool. On this particular day, he was playing with an older Polar Bear. I don't know if it was Mom, Dad, an uncle, perhaps an acquaintance of his parents, who can say? What does matter is, they were swimming and splashing and having a grand time, and all I could think about was some chuckle-head scaling the glass wall and getting eaten right there in front of all those kids. If you've never seen an actual polar bear, friend, you don't stand a chance against one. Even Wilbur could rip out your liver and feast on it while your steaming remains cooled in the Arctic perma-frost. Cute as they are, these are dangerous animals. Fortunately, no one was foolish enough to jump in, so I have no action shots for you today. ;-)

~dave~