The Bronx Zoo has a five-month-old okapi, and cattitude and I went to see if she was visible this afternoon. The zoo website warned that the okapi would only be on display until "mid-November" because when it gets cold they have to bring them indoors, and the only okapi viewing area is outdoors in the Congo exhibit.

It turned out to be an excellent day to look at okapi. Reasonably warm (around 60F/15C), with some sunshine and not much wind, and late enough in fall that the trees were mostly bare, so the okapis weren't hidden behind lots of leaves.

( enthusiasm about okapis, cut for length )

After too long (defined as more than a month) Andy and I went to the Bronx Zoo this afternoon. On a summer Sunday, we figured we wouldn't even bother with Wild Asia or the Congo Forest, either of which would mean waiting in line to pay a surcharge. The things to definitely see were the emus, okapi, and snow leopards.

On the way to the emus, we wandered past the pelican-and-gibbon exhibit (the gibbons live on an island, the pelicans in the water around it; they don't really interact). There were half-grown wood ducks in the water; still clearly this year's ducklings, but the males are starting to show the wood-duck green and blue coloring. We'll go back next month and see how they're doing: the area can use more wood ducks.

The okapis were out and about, and excellent to watch at length. But i wanted a sign that said

NOT A ZEBRA

after listening to the people around me for a little while. I can cope with the children who see a striped quadruped and think zebra. It's the adults who tell an infant "that's a zebra" and, when I point out that it's an okapi, say "she won't remember it." This is a reason for lying to a child? If she won't remember the name, "look at that animal" might be the way to go. And the adults who say it's half giraffe and half zebra, and don't bother to mention its real name. I suppose I should be glad they read enough to recognize that it is in fact related to a giraffe.

The other high point, along with the wood ducks, was watching herons on the pond next to the cafeteria-and-gift-shop area. The official, on-the-signs animals there are flamingos, ducks, and koi. But it's a nice big open pond, with food, so it's got some big turtles; some red-wing blackbirds; and, today, herons. A little green heron (not very green, but that's his name) and a yellow-crowned night heron. We watched that bird for a long time, as it stood, then stalked slowly along the shore, then stood again. We checked the book when we got home, and that's another for the life list. (Less exotic than the two before it--calliope hummingbirds, storm-tossed on the wrong edge of the continent, and a bald eagle.)

Snow leopards don't do well on hot summer days, so we stopped there briefly, then headed back to the bus. But first we stopped to take another look at the young wood ducks.

Maureen (brisingamen) is visiting from England, and on Tuesday she saw a subway ad for the Bronx Zoo. This made her think of Ben, because he lives there, and that led to a discussion of the zoo, and schedules, and the pregnant okapi.

The upshot of this is that I took a vacation day, and Maureen, Dave (filkerdave), Ben, and I went to the zoo. We were all late, but met at the appointed place, with a bit of help from a zoo employee who pointed out to me and Ben that there were subway delays.

Once gathered, we headed for the okapi, stopping only to watch the cheetahs.

Someone told us that the okapi was hiding in the corner of her exhibit, and we decided we could wait. A few minutes later, her head appeared.

Maureen was delighted. We watched the okapi eat, with the weird and wonderful blue tongue that okapi and giraffes have, and eventually she came forward and we got to see at least half an okapi.

We watched the okapi for a long time before going on to giraffes, and lunch, and many other animals. Maureen said "I've seen an okapi, I can die happy", but first she got to see a tapir being active and even swimming below the surface--there's something pleasing about watching an animal under about three inches of water. We went to the children's zoo for lemurs and the fennec, and visited the bats in the World of Darkness, and generally saw more than I usually have the energy for in one afternoon.

And Maureen kept saying what a good zoo it is, and Ben and I were delighted--it's on both of our lists to show visitors, and a place we each spend a lot of time.

And the baby crane is looking far less like a baby, though she still sits with her feet stuck out in front of her: she has attractive light-brown feathers on her neck and head, not the gray and black of her parents, but no longer a newborn fuzz.

It was a perfect zoo day, warm and sunny, and wonderful to have Maureen give me a reason to take a random June day and go look at the animals.