A trip to the research zoo

Bison

Today after church, we decided to pack the car with my parents, brother and 3 year old nephew and head over to the Smithsonian conservation/research zoo.

They were having an open house and were asking for a $30 donation per car.  It was a beautiful way to spend a Fall day and we got to do a lot of walking.

However, there were not too many animals.  This was my first time there and I immediately noticed the government compound atmosphere similar to what you saw on the Lost tv series.  Seriously.  My husband has done some work there and while he can't or won't share everything he did there- well he says some folks rarely leave the compound.  They have all the supplies they need right there.  Ok, that is slightly creepy but for all those military folks out there, you might have a better understanding of the commune idea.

We got to see Bison, cranes, clouded leopards,  red pandas, and a few other critters but not many.  It turns out it was mainly educational and that there were not many young kid friendly see the animals type activities.  Instead, they had lots of educational booths set up explaining how they do research connected with the animals at the National Zoo.


Most of the animals were far away and behind an electric fence so it was hard to take pictures.  Husband says this is meant to be an area of respite for the animals and since they are only open to the public over the weekend we should keep it in mind that the animals are here to get well in most cases.

Yep- he is right because they have a nice vet hospital there as well.   All within the compound.