Monday, September 14, 2015

One More Visit to the Zoo Before Italy

     By now you all are aware of my obsession with our wonderful zoo and the animals that make their home on the side of the mountain.  I had to get one last visit in before we leave on Thursday for Italy.  So I will share some more zoo photos and some more Italy photos and then there will be no more blog posts until after October 3rd when we return. 
     We received some heartbreaking news from the zoo this past week.  Our magnificent male silver back lowland gorilla died unexpectedly last Thursday.  When I was there last Monday I did not see him in the area with the rest of the troop and I asked one of the keepers about him.  She said that he seemed to have a viral infection and they had quarantined him from the others in case it was contagious.  Then Thursday afternoon I got an email from the zoo saying that he had passed away.  They are conducting a necropsy on him to determine the actual cause of death.  Everyone is devastated.  Cindy and I visited the zoo this morning and it was so obvious that the entire gorilla troop is in mourning.  None of them were their usual selves.  Dembe, the three year old son of Rafiki, stayed very close to his mother which he has not done  for many months.  The eight year old daughter, Tumani, was off by herself with her arms crossed and was not her usual playful self.  I stood there and cried.  I'm crying now just thinking about how hard this must be for them to understand why Rafiki is no longer there.
     We had to end our visit on a happy note and so headed to the lion cubs one more time.  Oh my goodness, they are still the cutest things I've ever seen!!  I can't believe it will be over three weeks before I get to see them again!  They are 2 1/2 months old and have started eating solid food (raw meat) and are growing fast.  Cindy and I will definitely visit them when we get back from Italy.  Something tells me that I probably will have lots to occupy my time and energy and thoughts while I'm gone :-)
   So I leave you now with photos from today's zoo visit, a previous photo of Rafiki with Dembe and more photos of sights we will see in Italy.  As always, I thank you for reading my blog and joining me on this journey as I, eventually, will be making my way to a new home in France.  Merci!

Aslan is not too sure about his new play thing

They're getting so big!

Mother, Lomela, is majestic

He's checking us out while mom tries to figure out what that thing is

Lazy mountain lion - look at the size of that paw!

Here Kitty Kitty

Daddy Rafiki doing his "Thinker" pose for Dembe
Pienza

Pisa

Rome

Siena

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