Zoo Enrichment

The kids and I went to the Calgary Zoo today. We made it just in time for the penguin march where the Emperor Penguins have the choice to go outside their enclosure and waddle around before being led back into their space and fed. Today on the march 5 1/2 month old baby penguin Nero joined his parents on the march. He's a beast! They explained that in the wild the parents will feed the baby as much as they can to quickly build up a layer of fat to keep the baby warm. Apparently the huge size is normal for a baby and when it looses the fluffy feathers and gets his new waterproof coat he'll be able to swim without getting too cold and start loosing weight from the exercise.
The baby penguin was a hit for me but the rest of the animals we quickly stopped off were pretty active as well. I've only ever been to the zoo in the summer before and we'd try to schedule our trips around feeding times so we would see the animals in action instead of hot and lazy. Going on the cooler day we got to see the bigger furry animals up moving about, the camels humps jiggling with every step. We almost got pee'd on by the Rhino's laser beam urine stream and for the first time ever the snow leopards were up and about.
Not all the animals seemed to enjoy the cooler weather though. The poor Meerkats were huddled together in what seemed to be a desperate attempt to stay warm.