Amur Leopards - San Diego Zoo

I got to spend some quality time with the Amur Leopards at the San Diego Zoo earlier this year.

They were enjoying an early lunch when I got there.

Click here to see a few more images of the Amur Leopards at the San Diego Zoo on June 15, 2019.
       

Mandrills - San Diego Zoo - June 2019

Here are a few images of the family of Mandrills that live at the San Diego Zoo.

Click here to see a few more images of the Mandrill family at the San Diego Zoo on June 15, 2019.

     

San Diego Zoo - June 9, 2019

Not just tigers this time, although I will start with both Cinta and Berani (in that order), since I pretty much always start a day at the San Diego Zoo with a visit to the Malayan Tigers.

Found some cool looking flowers.

There was a new baby Giraffe.

Click here to see a few more images from the San Diego Zoo on June 9, 2019.

      

Mek Degong - Malayan Tiger - San Diego Zoo - May 26, 2019

The story of Malayan Tiger Mek Degong is a bit fuzzy.  It looks like she came to the US sometime in 2003, after being captured by Malayan authorities.  Over the years I've heard several variations of the story as to why she was captured, it seems she was either scaring villagers by getting too close, or eating the villagers' livestock, or eating the villagers.  Who knows?  At least she wasn't killed, either by authorities or poachers, and she ended up in San Diego.  I have photos of her going way back on this blog, including her litter of three cubs in 2009, then Christopher and Connor in 2011.  You could say that she is the "mother of all tigers" because she is in fact the mother of all of the other tigers at the San Diego Zoo right now.
   
Mek moved from San Diego up to Fresno in late 2013, where she had four more cubs in January of 2014, bringing the total up to 11.  Two of those cubs, the males Cinta and Berani, have been here in San Diego since November of 2014.  There are lots of pictures of the two of them on this blog.
   
Fresno Zoo is apparently going to renovate its tiger habitat and so . . . Mek is back in San Diego.  Here are a few pictures from one of Mek's first days out in the large enclosure.

They are not even sure exactly how old Mek is, so they are using the assumption that she is 20 this year, which makes her a fairly old cat.  Still, she is quite quick and alert, and from what I saw yesterday, still fairly aggressive and loud.

Click here to see more pictures of Mek Degong, one of the Malayan Tigers at the San Diego Zoo.    
     

All images in this post were taken with a Fujifilm X-T2 and XF55-200mm lens.
     

San Diego Zoo - May 25, 2019

Berani the Malayan Tiger.

Click here to see more images of Berani and his brother Cinta, and the Amur Leopards, at the San Diego Zoo on May 25, 2019.

     

San Diego Zoo - May 18, 2019

Usually I just hang out with the Malayan Tigers when at the San Diego Zoo (or at least that is what one would think from looking at this blog).  This day I actually got in quite a variety.

Mother and daughter Amur Leopards.

Young female Amur Leopard.

Baby Giraffe.

Andean Bears.

Hippopotamus.

Of course, I had to spend some time with Connor, the Malayan Tiger.

Click here to see more images from the San Diego Zoo on May 18, 2019.

      

San Diego Zoo - April 20, 2019

Female Amur Leopard at the San Diego Zoo.

Click here to see more images.

     

Bai Yun the Giant Panda - San Diego Zoo - April 20, 2019

Bai Yun, the female Giant Panda, having lunch. We heard today that she and her son Xiao Liwu have just arrived safely back in China.

     

San Diego Zoo - March 9, 2019

Here are a few images from the San Diego Zoo on March 9, 2019.

Connor was out when I first arrived.

Here's Connor's younger brother Berani, enjoying a femur bone snack.

The Amur Leopards were up and about.

One of the best things that day was the Purple Plum tree lives just outside the entrance to the Asian Cats exhibit.  It only flowers for brief time each year.

Click here to see a few more images from the San Diego Zoo on March 9, 2019.
     

Big Cats at the San Diego Zoo

Here are a few of the big cats at the San Diego Zoo.  This batch is from back in February.  We'll start with an Amur Leopard.

Here are Penny and Ramil, a mating (everyone hopes) pair of Snow Leopards.

Next up, a Jaguar.

    
Click here to see a few more from the San Diego Zoo on February 23, 2019.
     

Connor the Malayan Tiger - San Diego Zoo

I got a chance to spend some quality time with Connor the Malayan Tiger at the San Diego this past Monday.

Click here if you would like to see more of Connor from Monday, February 18, 2019 at the San Diego Zoo.
       

Cheetah - San Diego Zoo

This is Ayana, a four-year-old female Cheetah who lives at the San Diego Zoo.

     

Amur Leopards - San Diego Zoo

Here are a few images of the Amur Leopard cubs and their mother taken earlier this month. They've grown quite a bit - it's hard to believe they are only about 8 months old when these were taken.

They seem a lot more independent, and still quite playful, but their mother does still keep a pretty close watch on them.

Click here to see more images from the San Diego Zoo on December 2, 2018.