London Zoo 2010
by furtech
The London Zoo is a great zoo. A mix of old-school and innovation, their animals seem alert and the enclosures clean and roomy.
Best of all, they had Cape Hunting Dogs! Usually all I've seen of them is a puddle of color under a bush or maybe a pacer...but not this time! They were very active and alert, apparently because a pair of females had been recently introduced into the pack. According to the keeper, the males sorted things out between themselves (dominance/rank) for a month; once that was settled, the females were introduced and promptly tore into the males, cooling their ardour a bit. You can see a number of small wounds on the faces of the males.
My favorite dog was the tiny female. Apparently she had no problem with her sister being the dominant dog and the target of the high-ranking males: she goofed off and seemingly hadn't a care in the world. She would frequently plop down onto her side and then wriggle around in the dirt. Sometimes she's plop down onto a pile of dogs and start wriggling, leading to some disgruntled growling. She was a very happy animal.
Lunch at the zoo cafe was pleasant and we were joined by hoards of birds-- mostly starlings and pigeons.
Highly recommended!
