Something to look foward to: Lions, tigers and ... giraffes!

Some people say take one day at a time and live in the moment. But that's not always easy to do, especially for me. Maybe it's my age, or simply just how I am, but I always need something to look forward to. (Thus, my entry every Sunday will be about something I am looking forward to!)

So this week I am looking forward to seeing some animals. I'm hoping you guessed what that means; I am going to the zoo! (Update: BABY ANIMALS! And she has my name!)

Now zoos and I, well we have a love hate relationship - though come to think of it it's a one-sided relationship because zoos are probably pretty apathetic toward a 21-year-old girl. See, I love zoos because I like animals and it's actually pretty tough to see really exotic animals in the wild. Maybe someday I'll get enough courage (and money ... and time) to go on safari in Africa and a trip to the jungle and Antarctica or Alaska, but right now I just don't have the ability to do so. So zoos are the next best thing. And honestly, most zoos do a pretty fine job of caring for their animals. But the best test to see how well a zoo cares for the animals is the Giraffe Test, and so we're clear, I made this test up at the London Zoo a few months ago and shall now apply it to all zoos.

The Giraffe Test (LEFT: Cape May Zoo. Credit: Me)
Giraffes are one of the hardest species to properly accommodate at a zoo in my opinion (and not just because they happen to be my favorite animal). So I judge a zoo on how well they can accommodate giraffes. Here's why: they are probably the biggest species most zoos offer, they need room to run and stretch their legs (which, obviously, are incredibly long), tall trees are needed for them to feed from and they live in weather that is very hot. Now I'm no giraffe expert and I've never been able to ask a giraffe what kind of lifestyle it would prefer, but I doubt that they enjoyed small confined pens with a few scraggly trees to feed of off. This is what I have found at quite a few zoos, and thus they are off my list of zoos to go to. (Sorry to the Bronx and London zoos). So far my personal favorite is the Cape May zoo. There they have an area for the giraffes (and zebra as well) that is as close to the African savannah as one can get in New Jersey. I'm not sure where the giraffes are kept in the winter, but at least in the summer they have plenty of room to move around, run and lots of tall trees to feed from.

Hopefully the Naples Zoo will pass the test! I'll let you know tomorrow.
Oh, and what about you? What's your favorite zoo?