All Things Zoo. . . .

Aldabra Tortoise

Grevys Zebra - The Grevys is the largest of the Zebra species

Reticulated Giraffes feeding near the observation tower

The Petting Zoo on The Childrens Trail

Asian Elephants - Reba and Indu - Sanctuary Animals

More of Reba and Indu

The new Komodo Exhibit - the female dragon

The Orangutan family - Duchess, the Matriarch, is the

oldest living Orangutan in any Zoo world wide. She will be 50 in March

Three Ring Tailed Lemurs sitting in a row

One of the islands for our apes - these are Gibbons

The Cheetah - The Phoenix Zoo belongs to the SSP for

this animal and has bred many to go to other zoos

The Mhorr Gazelle - This beautiful animal is the largest

of the Gazelles and is extinct in the wild

Spock, the Mandrill

Ken - The Hamadryas Baboon with one of his girls

White Rhinos - Notch and Half Ear - Sanctuary animals

African Lions - Brother and Sister

Jai the Sumatran Tiger

A female Ostrich on the African Savannah

Prairie Dogs enjoying the sunshine

Gila Monsters and a Speckled Rattlesnake

A Golden Eagle and two Ravens

Two Mexican Grey Wolves - severly endangered they are

part of the zoos SSP - the zoo breeds them and they have
been successfully released into the wild

It has been 72 years since my sister, Theresa, and brother-in-law,

LeGrande, took an excited little girl to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake

City. It was my first visit to a zoo. I had always loved animals and

to be able to actually see these beautiful wild animals in reality

instead of in the National Geographic and Readers Digest magazines

that I studied voraciously each month, was a dream come true. Each

time I visited Theresa and LeGrande, they made sure I was able to

visit the zoo.

When I went to live with them in 1949 after graduating from high

school, Shasta, the Hogle Zoo's famous liger, was just a year old.

She had been born at the zoo. Her parents were a male African Lion

and an Asian Tiger. I was fascinated with her. She was beautiful. I

visited her as often as I could while I was living there and several

times I took my two little nephews, Jim and Karl, with me so they

could see Shasta and the other animals. Shasta died in 1972 at the

age of 24. I was able to see her shortly before she died.

That first trip to the Hogle Zoo was the beginning of my life long

love affair with zoos. When George and I were married, he was in

the navy stationed in San Diego, California. Our first home there

was a lovely apartment in Hillcrest, a suburb of San Diego. We had

no car and little money, but our apartment was located just a block

from beautiful Balboa Park and we could walk through the park to

the San Diego Zoo. As a member of the Armed Forces, George and

I paid a bargain 25 cents admission to enter the zoo. Almost every

Saturday that he did not have duty, we would spend the day at

the zoo and the park. We had our favorite tree at the park. We

would spread a blanket under it and play games, read, eat, and

just relax. George usually took a nap and I watched people.

Paul, Rhonda, and Craig grew up with the San Diego Zoo as one of

their favorite places to go. They loved to ride the carousel just

outside of the zoo entrance. They would ride it over and over again

as they tried to grab the brass ring to earn a free ride. I'm not

sure that always ended up being a bargain, but they sure had fun.

Later, when we would go to the zoo with Justin and Jeni, they too

loved trying to grab the brass ring. They loved to celebrate their

birthdays at Balboa Park and we looked forward to joining them

for the fun at our favorite park.

We have been to the San Diego Zoo with Brinton and Trey many

times and have watched them laugh with excitement as they. too,

tried to capture the brass ring for their free ride. We have also

been there with Miranda and Hannah. I am not sure if we have

been there with Josh, but we have been to zoos with him and

his sisters in Kansas, Texas, and Phoenix. When we moved to

Mesa, I knew one of the things I would miss the most would be

the beautiful San Diego Zoo. Rhonda and Ken had moved to

Mesa. We followed a few years later. One of the first things

Rhonda and I did after we got settled was to take Brinton and

Trey to the Phoenix Zoo. Just as their mother had grown up

with the San Diego Zoo, so they grew up with the Phoenix Zoo

as one of their favorite places. It is a beautiful zoo and I fell in

love with it on that first visit.

One morning in 1991, as I read the Phoenix Republic newspaper,

I saw an add that the Phoenix Zoo was recruiting volunteers to

serve at the zoo. I applied and was accepted. I just recently

marked my 18th year as a Phoenix Zoo Volunteer. I have loved

my service there and consider it one of the most rewarding

things I have done. Now, in addition to my grandchildren, it

has given me the opportunity to be involved with my great

grandchildren, Cote, Brexton, and Nixon at many special

occasions at the zoo. Their parents and G Mama take them

often. Zoo lights has become a Christmas Tradition that our

family looks forward to each year. I have not yet visited a

zoo with our other little great grandson, Ethan, but have seen

pictures of a recent trip he had to the San Diego Zoo with his

mother, Jeni, and grandmother, Joanne. I look forward to

a trip to the zoo with him. It will be fun in the future to

watch his first attempt at capturing the brass ring on the

Carousel after a visit to the zoo, just as I watched his Grand-

dad, mother, and Uncle Justin do when they were children.

So, that first visit by a wide eyed little girl to the Hogle Zoo

in Salt Lake City those many years ago, has come full

circle as I extend my love of zoos to yet another generation.

When I worked my shift at the zoo last week, I chose to

serve as a roving Trail Host so I could take pictures of the

animals and their habitats as I moved from one stop to

another. The animals are not all close ups as I wanted

the pictures to also show the beauty of "my" zoo to post on

Growing Up Ina and The James Wadsworth blogs.