The weather has been so nice down here, so we decided to take a trip to the Baton Rouge Zoo.
I am a bit torn on the idea of zoos. I don't completely agree with caged animals, but I see the educational benefit of having them as well. I think some species only still exist because of captivity.

It has been many years since I visited our zoo and many improvements have been made. Since passing a 20 million dollar park tax, more projects have been started around the city and updates to existing facilities are being made. Over 5 million dollars is going to our zoo, but the only improvement for the animals is a new tiger exhibit; everything else is for the visitors. I was hoping some of the concrete enclosures would be made larger and with more amenities for the animals. I would like more natural vegetation and water features added to many of the shelters. I also like the idea of having an exercise area that the animals could visit every now and then for different scenery and some running room.



With that being said, we enjoyed ourselves and my son absolutely loved the birds and monkeys.














He also had a grand time on the new playground with this awesome recycled rubber ground surface that is like walking on an air mattress. It makes it nice for the tumbles.


Here is my little monkey exploring the sliding corkscrew pole.





My favorite exhibit is the giraffes. These are such amazing creatures. One was particularly friendly and let us feed her. We later got into trouble for feeding the giraffe even though it was just grass pulled from her enclosure and even though there were no NO FEEDING ANIMAL signs to be seen.
















That is the grass that I wasn't supposed to feed to her even though she was pulling it up herself before we decided to give her a hand.