The San Diego Zoo was originally gifted a pair of these Visayan Warty Pigs from the Philippines, but its breeding program was so successful that it was soon looking for homes for the offspring in other zoos. The paperwork has been a little slow, so the Zoo is kind of inundated with pigs, for the time being. This is a little ironic, but good news, since they are critically endangered in the wild. San Diego was the first zoo outside the Philippines to keep and breed Visayan Warty Pigs.
This is the dad, and there were four or five babies, from different mothers, running around the enclosure, which is viewed from above. They had only been in this enclosure for a couple of weeks, when I was there, and they were still getting used to it. Fortunately, I got there when they were just waking up, because the babies move so fast that it's difficult to photograph them.
Tags: Visayan Warty Pig Sus cebifrons Critically endangered Tiger Riger San Diego Zoo wiseass
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Explore #472, 10/28/08.
On second thought, no you can't - at least you shouldn't. This guy has to be in contention for the winner in the ugliest animal contest. I do kind of like the back lighting of the hairs on his back, though.
While I was shooting this pig, the keeper looked at me and smiled and said, "Not too many people take the time to photograph them." I wonder why. ;-)
Happy Monday Blues. I'll bet you've never seen a blue pig before or a pig with blue eyes or even a pig with a beard, much less one with all three of these traits. I hadn't, before the day I shot this.
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Tags: Bornean Bearded Pig Bearded Pig Sus barbatus Tiger River San Diego Zoo TheUnforgettablePictures ImpressedBeauty
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Explore #234, 10/1/08.
These parrots, the fruit dove in the previous shots, as well as a couple of species I'll add in the future, are all in the same enclosure - a large, Plexiglas-fronted cage, with no natural sunlight, alongside of the path to the tigers. There are electric lights, angled from the top, near the glass, which are probably also heat lamps, but they aren't bright enough for good photography. The viewing area is dark, making it hard for the animals (lucky for them) to see the viewers. I'm so proud of myself for resisting the temptation to say something about the seeds on his beak.
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Tags: Blue-crowned Hanging Parrot Loriculus galgulus Tiger River San Diego Zoo AnAwesomeShot AvianExcellence
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"We need more power, Scotty!"
"Capt'n, I'm givin' her all she's got!"
“These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise, it's continuing mission to explore a strange new world, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no one has gone before.”
Best Effect On Black
Tags: Spider web Tiger River San Diego Zoo
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Tags: Pink-headed Fruit Dove Pink-necked Fruit-dove Temminck's Fruit Pigeon Ptilinopus porphyreus Tiger River San Diego Zoo FantasticWildlife DiamondClassPhotographer flickrdiamond AvianExcellence
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