San Diego Zoo - Mostly Malayan Tigers

I spent a few hours walking around the San Diego Zoo this morning. It was warm, and the sun was bright, which made for some nice high-contrast shots of the Malayan Tigers. With lighting like this you can really get an idea of how their camouflage works. These are the two male cubs that were born last April. 

So maybe in this case the stripes aren't as important as having the tree to hide behind. Whatever works.

A few weeks ago when I was here I took a bunch of shots of one of the little crocodiles that lives in the pool with the turtles partway down Tiger Trail. All of them were blurry because of the angle I was shooting to the glass. It was disappointing, since there was this cool shadow of his mouth with all the teeth showing. This time I managed to get a couple that were better. 

I spent most of the morning hanging out with the tigers, but I did pop over to the red panda briefly, and managed to get a few shots there as well. Not a lot of action with the red panda today.

Click here to see a few more images from the San Diego Zoo on Sunday morning, March 4, 2012.