London Zoo 3 September 2007

Thomas' last day of the holiday and we decided to visit the zoo together. I always head straight to the tiger enclosure as they have a tendancy to sleep all day, out of sight. It must have been my lucky day, he was on the prowl!

We couldn't work out what the Tamarin was calling to his/her mate for Until we realised she needed a flea check from the nit-nurse

Men are men whatever shapes and sizes they come in. This one was lion shaped and didn't hesitate to hide his antipathy towards me . . . That wasn't his only bad habit either . . He yawned without putting his paw over his mouth Spat up a furball in front of company . . . . .

and wouldn't stop biting his nails . . . . .

Sensibly, his mate sat there pretending she wasn't with him . . . .

Couldn't see the pelicans when we arrived, but they soon trouped in side by side.. think they were looking for Noah, and made their displeasure known when they realised they were stuck with me!

We have flamingos in London too, and although they don't have a mirror to play with, they are kinder to me than the flock at martin Mere ever were.

This meerkat was on lookout in the sun. . . . . . .

this isn't my favourite giraffe in the world (That is Jamie the one eared giraffe at Whipsnade for obvious reasons) but this giraffes eyelashes are my favourite eyelashes the whole world over

I am always dubious about zoos.. Are they cruel etc etc. However when we were staying in Belves we saw a dancing bear performing in the town. We were all very upset to see the magnificent beast being treated like this. The sloth bears at London Zoo are the bears that traditionally are used for this kind of 'entertainment'. As long as London Zoo helps stop this kind of treatment and keeps bears safe, they get my vote. this bear was soaking up the sun and looked pretty happy to me

Finally - my nemesis. I can never photograph these animals at all well. They have a small enclosure with a thick wire fence. I think this young one was keeping his eye on me however!