Captivating

 My last post was almost 3 months ago, following a trip to the zoo and as it happens this post also follows a further trip to the zoo. I didn't get to see many of the species I had hoped to see so I am thinking that I may need to invest in a season ticket so I can go back more frequently. 

My last post was exclusively photos of a cheetah and today I will include more shots of the cheetah because it is my favourite of  the big cats. I also include some shots of  the bush dogs which are really endearing creatures, one of a tiger and some shots of an Orang Utan proving that he is the King of the swingers. 

I think I have some photos of a mongoose from my previous visit but I need to look through those for another day.

Kitty Kat

 I always love photographing wildlife whether it is near my local beach, at a nature reserve or even in a zoo. I would love to travel and photograph exotic creatures in their natural habitat but there are lots of reasons why that isn't possible every now and then it is great to visit a zoo and get some exotic shots closer to home. Just as in the wild taking photos of any of the animals in the zoo requires a lot of patience and a degree of luck, especially if you want natural looking shots. 

I especially love the big cats and I was lucky enough to see the snow leopards, a Siberian tiger and the cheetah all of which are absolutely beautiful. I am always drawn to the cheetah though because they have such grace and despite being an apex predator with some serious skills they can still manage to charm like a domestic cat.

Here are a few of my cheetah images from my recent zoo visit...

Meet Napo

I have shared a couple of pictures of the Jaguars at Chester Zoo recently but no apologies for that, it is one of my favourite big cats and this is a great shot so take a minute or two and enjoy...

Spot The Difference

Not long after my visit to the zoo I did some food shopping and saw a woman at the checkout who was wearing a fur coat/jacket and whether it was real or faux fur I couldn't say but looking at it I felt sad, it didn't look right, it did nothing fr the person wearing it and it would have been much better on the cat. I love the patterns in fur and so I decided to post this crop of one of my shots from the zoo. 

Can you guess which big cat this beautiful coat belongs to.

If someone guesses correctly (and I hope people will have a go) I will post a really great shot of the cat in question tomorrow.

Out of the Jungle

My favourite character from The Jungle Book was Bagheera the panther and my favourite big cat is the Jaguar (Pantera Onca). At Chester Zoo they have a great enclosure for the Jaguars as part of their conservation program. 

The black panther was outdoors, sheltering in a small cave and at first it was quite difficult to see and this picture was taken using my 150 - 600 mm lens fully extended. I like the fact that s/he was looking directly at the camera.

The other one was indoors looking very regal and relaxed and although in full view I had to shoot these pictures through the glass. It was difficult to get a clear shot without reflection but I think I did OK, in fact the final crop is better than OK and I am very pleased with this portrait of one of my favourite animals.

Grace and Power...

As I said yesterday I love big cats and the Cheetah is one of my favourite species, such power and grace and terrific looks. 

Jaguar

This is possibly my favourite of the big cats, and in the past when I have visited Chester Zoo I have never caught a glimpse of the Jaguars as they always seem to be hiding out of sight.

I was really pleased this time round because I got the first shot outside just as this beauty climbed up onto a tree stump before turning quickly and made off to the back of the enclosure.

The second shot was taken indoors through glass as this cat was grooming himself.

I hope you will agree the Jaguar is truly a majestic cat.

Top Cat

These really are magnificent cats, they're quite literally Grrrrrrrrrreat!

Sorry about that, I couldn't resist it.

Like the lions in yesterdays pictures these Siberian Tigers were relaxing in the afternoon sun.  In spite of the bright colours and striking pattern of stripes the orange and black are a superb camouflage.  Earlier in the day it had been really difficult to spot these cats because they were hidden in the undergrowth, it wasn't until later in the day that they came out and it was possible to get these shots.

I Love Big Cats

Over the next few days I will post pictures of some of the big cats at Chester Zoo.  I would like to see these creatures in their natural habitat but that's not going to happen any time soon.  I was able to get a few good shots during my visit and today I am starting with this beautiful Lion which at the end of the day was relaxing in the late afternoon sun.  It was relaxing but as you can see she was closely watching the visitors who were looking at her.