Babirusa !!!
Written by Pam on August 7, 2015
Go get the ball – no, sit and stay – better yet, stay with me! I must tell our HGT dogs these commands on a daily basis and they all seem to listen. But ‘stay with me’, could not happen today because I took off to the Bronx Zoo!
During the many years that I have loved and cared for animals of all shapes and sizes, I can honestly say that I don’t spend too much time thinking about animals who are at the brink of extinction … that was until today! Did you know that the Bronx Zoo cares for animals that are endangered and some animals that are actually extinct in the wild?
We decided to dedicate the day and to best understand what animals fall into these categories of Endangered/Extinct in the Wild/Extinct. From the zoo’s monorail we were able to see many of these animals – I want to talk about in this blog those animals that left me thinking about a new venture for me to try my best in helping these animals!
We saw some Mongolian Wild Horses. These horses hit many categories leading to that of extinction. From the early 1960’s through 1995 these horses were extinct in the wild. In 2008 through 2015 they climbed from critically endangered to endangered. The Bronx Zoo stepped in and started to care, love and patiently breed these horses successfully. The Bronx Zoo now has a small herd of delightful – yet different – looking horses!
We also saw one of my daughter’s favorite animals, the red panda – also on the endangered list; although the picture shows a beautiful – quite peaceful red panda – in a very large open block of land. These pandas are endangered because of shrinking habitats the red pandas become solitary in nature without companionship and without a mate…
My overall favorite were the Babirusas! I have never heard of this animal nor have I seen one in text or in person – but they exist … for now. These are what the Indonesians call the pig-deer! Funny right! They were hard to photograph but picture this – the male Babirusa has two sets of tusks that grow out of the top of his head and if he does not wear them down or use them in battle, the tusks will continue to grow through his skull. These Babirusas do not sport a …pretty face, but I am very much interested in this piggy species. These Babirusas are on the endangered list
Having missed my small pack for the few hours away, I could not resist a picture with those deemed not so nice a species – but I wanted a picture with one anyway. Please visit The Bronx Zoo, you will be very happy that you did :*)
