Tag Archives: Rhino

Look at all the babies!

January 17, 2016INSIDE FLORIDA, Lowry Park Zoo - Tampachimpanzee, Elephant, orangutan, Rhino, zooEd Rosack

My buddy Tom M. suggested that we go by the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida. You may remember this post I wrote about it back in 2013. I haven’t been since then and haven’t kept up with what’s going on there. So I was surprised to spot this pair way in the back when we visited the Orangutans:

Baby Orangutan and Mom are both a little sleepy

Baby GoJo is less than a month old – born on Dec. 21, 2015 to Josie, a 30-year-old Bornean Orangutan. ~~You can read more about them including info on the zoo’s Orangutan conservation efforts at their website: www.lowryparkzoo.org/about/newsroom/2015/12/29/santa-baby…~~ (sorry – no longer available)

Next we wandered over to see the Chimpanzees and immediately saw another very cute young one scampering about:

Baby Chimp and foster Mom

This one’s name is Keeva, and she was born on March 12, 2015 in a Maryland zoo. When her birth mother was unable to care for her, they brought her to Tampa where she’s been adopted by Abby. Abby has a lot of experience successfully fostering orphan chimps and was specifically picked to care for Keeva. It was wonderful to see the youngster thriving with her foster Mom. ~~You can read more of this story at the Maryland zoo site, which also talks about their chimp conservation efforts: www.marylandzoo.org/2015/05/keeva/~~(sorry – no longer available)

After seeing these two small ones, I started looking for others. Next, I spotted a baby white Rhino. Ahati was born at the zoo on May 21, 2015 to Alaka.
www.lowryparkzoo.org/animals/southern-white-rhinoceros

Baby Rhino and Mom

And there are two young elephants. Mpumi was born on Dec 23, 2012 and was there the last time I visited. Mavi was born on July 29, 2013 – I think that’s who this is.

Baby Elephant and Mom

We also saw a Zebra foal (Penda, born November23, 2015) and her Mom, although my long distance photo through two fences isn’t very good. When I got home, I did the research I should have done before I went and found out there are other babies there that we didn’t spot. Check out the Lowry Park Zoo’s animals page for current info.

If you like zoos and babies (who doesn’t like babies?) – now is a great time to visit the Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa, Florida. While I sometimes have mixed feeling about zoos, this one seems very deserving of our support. The animals appear well cared for and they’re doing important work in conservation of endangered animals such at the ones pictured in this post. For a limited time, you can pay for a one day pass and use it during the rest of the year. ~~See here for details.~~ (sorry – no longer available)

Thanks for stopping by and reading my blog. Now – go make some photos!

Lion Country Safari

May 10, 2015INSIDE FLORIDA, Jonathan Dickinson State Park, Lion Country Safari, Must do listcabin, Rhino, Wildebeest, ZebraEd Rosack

Intro / Description

I’d heard about Lion Country Safari and I’ve wanted to visit for a while. Lynn and I finally got a chance to go last week.

“Lion Country Safari is a drive-through safari park located in Loxahatchee (near West Palm Beach), in Palm Beach County, Florida. Founded in 1967, it claims to be the first ‘cageless zoo’ in the United States. In 2009, USA Travel Guide named Lion Country the 3rd best zoo in the nation.” Wikipedia’s Lion Country Safari Page

Striped stare

There are about 5 miles of paved roads running through several large areas divided by water and fences with more than 1,000 animals throughout. I haven’t been to Africa, but it seems like a wonderful place to get a small taste of what safari might be like.

Info for Photographers

Rhino nap

Access for photographers is excellent. It’s similar in some ways to Animal Kingdom in Orlando. The photo ops for most of the large African animals are better than the safari ride at Animal Kingdom. At Lion Country Safari you go at your own pace in your own car. At Animal Kingdom, you’re in a vehicle with others that you have no control over and most of the time you’ll have to shoot from the moving / shaking vehicle. That said, Animal Kingdom does have some animals that Lion country Safari doesn’t have and in some cases with much better photography access.

Photo hints:

Wildebeest

You’re cautioned to drive slowly and not stop too close to the animals. You’re also supposed to keep your doors locked and windows shut at all times. I did cheat and one of the rangers yelled at me on a loudspeaker – “Close your window right now!”. I did, of course and felt a little embarrassed. The ranger probably would have been embarrassed too if she knew she yelled at the Central Florida Photo Ops lead writer!

When we drove through the zebra herd, I was a little leery of stopping behind any of them – I believe they have a very powerful kick. But in general we felt very safe and I didn’t have any problems positioning the car for the shots I wanted.

Tripod/Monopod: Nope. You’ll be in your vehicle – so they aren’t useful.

Lenses: Long lenses are good, although the animals are very close at times. You’ll do fine if you have at least a 200mm equivalent lens. Zooms are also very helpful to frame your composition from inside your car. Unless it’s very overcast you should have plenty of light, but you’ll want to use a wide open aperture to blur out distracting detail (e.g. fences, etc.) and to keep your shutter speed high.

Best time to visit: The animals are most active early in the morning. Plan to drive through at least twice (no extra charge): the light and the animals activities / positions will change.

Other:

The entrance fee is $31, although you can find discount coupons on-line. This includes both the drive through safari park as well as the walk through safari and amusement park areas. Lynn and I didn’t really explore the amusement park side, for more info on this, please see the Lion Country Safari web page.

We stayed at Jonathan Dickenson State Park in Jupiter, Florida in one of their small cabins and it made a great base of operations for exploring the area.

Our cabin at Johnathan Dickenson State Park

Our base of operations at Jonathan Dickenson State Park

Summary

We both liked Lion Country Safari. The animals all seemed well fed, healthy, and even interested in the visitors. They do animal rehabilitation, sanctuary, and research and seem to take very good care of the residents. It’s one of the best zoos I’ve been to and I wish I’d gone sooner. You can see more Lion Country Safari photos in this set on Flickr.

My Gallery / Flickr photo set:	https://www.flickr.com/photos/edrosack/sets/72157650144549843
Website:	http://www.lioncountrysafari.com
Address / Phone:	2003 Lion Country Safari Rd Loxahatchee, FL 33470 (561) 793-1084
Central Florida Photo Ops Rating:	A Central Florida Photo Op must do!

On a different subject, this blog celebrated its 8th birthday last week – the first post was published on May 4th, 2007. That’s a long time ago in web years! I hope that my photography and writing has improved at least a little since then. Many thanks to everyone stopping by to read the articles and comment on them. It really helps to motivate me!

Now – go make some photos!

Where's EdRo?

May 10, 2010INSIDE FLORIDA, Technique, Theme ParksAnimal Kingdom, birds, Flowers, Ibis, Owl, Rhino, wildlifeEd Rosack

So we’re going to try something a little different. This will be a variation on the game “Where’s Waldo”, except you have to guess where I was last Saturday, based on the photos below. And you have to find me in at least one photo. We’ll use my Twitter handle and call it “Where’s EdRo?”. All of these photos were made in the same general area. To play fair, you aren’t allowed to scroll down too far before you guess. Forensic investigation of EXIF data is possible, but also against the rules. There’s no prize, but if enough people demand it, I can see about having something for the next time we play.

The point of the game is to remind you that you need to look around and find the non-obvious photos wherever you are. Go ahead and get the “trophy shots” (photos that everyone takes at a popular spot), but don’t forget to share your unique vision, perspective, and outlook with others.

Want to play? Here goes…

Clue #1: An interesting wall.

Clue #2: Nice light on an Ibis.

Clue #3: Flowers, leaves, sky.

Have you guessed where I was yet? If not, here’s some more clues:

Clue #4: Blue wall, red windows.

Clue #5: River landing and flowers.

Do you have it yet? If not, here’s a couple more.

Clue 6: Surprise and delight.

One last clue:

Clue 7: Rhino profile

If you haven’t guessed yet, then go to this set of mine on Flickr for additional clues. I’ve added a total of 21 photos there. Some are obvious and some are not. Hopefully they all let you see this place through my eyes.

Thanks for playing my little game. Now, go out there and look past the obvious shots.