Other Half Images' photostream

Wandering through the Toronto Zoo's new Arctic Tundra area, I decided to slip behind some small buildings which I know look out over the back (and often less visited) part of the polar bear exhibit on the off chance that one of them would actually be active. Normally when I visit the bears are napping but on this day, I was rewarded with an unobstructed view of this big guy loping along a muddy trail. What amazed me most about this scene, aside from the sheer size of the bear itself (the largest species of bear in the world) was the loud, distinct sucking sound his huge paws made as he stepped along the muddy path.

"Description : Medium sized monkey with a stout body, strong limbs and no tail. Dispite the name, it is a monkey not an ape. 11-13 kg. Males are about 50% heavier than females.

Distribution : Morocco, Algeria and Gibraltar

Habitat : Treeless cliffs and alpine forests of oak and cedar

Food : Fruit, seeds, leaves, tubers and rhizomes and invertebrates; bark and pine needles are eaten in winter and acorns in autum and spring.

Reproduction and Development : The breeding season is usually in early winter. The spring months seem to represent a prominent peak in births after a gestation period of 5-7 months. Usually there is only one young born, occasionally twins. The almost hairless offspring weigh 450 g at birth, nurse for a year and are fully grown and mature at four. Their lifespan is approximately 30 years.

Adaptations : They associate in troops of about 24 individuals of both sexes and different ages. They are strong and brave in their own defense and have killed dogs in fair fights. The members of the genus macaca are agile both in trees and on the ground. They are mainly diurnal. Male barbary apes will pick up an infant and start to carry it on their back before approaching a more dominant male. This presumably decreases the likelihood of being attacked by the more dominant animal."

www.torontozoo.com/ExploretheZoo/AnimalDetails.asp?pg=610

Yesterday I celebrated my birthday doing what I most love to do - spending time outside with friends and loved ones while taking photos. I was lucky that it was a gorgeous sunny day, very Spring like. As the snow we received on Saturday melted, I sloshed around in the wet slippery mess left behind and attempted to view the Toronto Zoo's newest addition - a baby polar bear. But I was not alone in my thinking and seemingly the entire population of Toronto came out to do the very same thing making it impossible (for someone as impatient as I can be at times) to see the baby. But the grown ups were enjoying themselves and so was I as I stood all alone at the far end of the exhibit with my trusty zoom lens, undisturbed and unencumbered by the hordes of people pushing and shoving against the glass of the polar bear enclosure. Getting off the beaten path is the only way for me :D