Zoologico de Chapultepec

We raced through the zoo looking at every animal we passed. Admiring there beautiful home-like enclosers. A couple of years ago the zoo was rebuilt to show and teach us about the animals and enviromentel protection. It is now one of the most amazing zoos i the world.

The fisrt animals that we came to that really blew my mind were the hippos.  did you know that hippos are one of the most vicious in the sawapms and waterways, and are very protective of their terrritory.  They kill more humans in africa than any other animal.  They were slouching and rolling in the dust before they trudged into the water to cool down and wash off.

As we peered into the next enclosure, to our amazement we saw four long lankly legs.  we had come  to the giraffes.  We watched as they rolled out an enormous blue tongue to rip leaves off trees for food.  They have blue tongues to prevent sun burn!  I thought the giraffes were very gracious and regal animals.  

And finally, we strolled past the monkeys.  There are lots of different breeds of monkeys as they vary hugely in size and habitat requirements.  From the tiny little squirts to the bigger primates that peered out thru the glass, curious about what was going on around them.    By Amber

 We saw panda bears too.  They didn't do much.  It looked as though they had already eaten a big meal as there was lots of bamboo litter on the floor of there enclosure.   when we saw them they were both asleep - obviously sleeping off the effects of their big meal.  

A rare white rhino looked out at us and snorted.  He was a huge beast with a massive head and horn.  He ambled about his enclosure nibbling at the grass.  It was sad to think so many of these impressive animals were shot by poachers in their natural habitat for the sake of the horns.  The horns are sought after for use in Chinese medicine even though the horns are made of the same material as human finger nails and have no proven power to cure anything.  By Pete