WINTER AT THE OC ZOO

February 20, 2018

One of my favorite things about the weekend is finding time to go out and explore the city I live in. After all aren’t weekends for adventures!

A few weeks ago in the midst of a perfect 70-degree day, I visited the Orange County Zoo, nestled among groves of oak and sycamore trees in Irvine Regional Park.
This little zoo, at eight acres, features animals native to the southwest, most of which have been injured and rehabilitated but can no longer survive in the wild.

Peacock

I have known about this park for quite some time but never had a chance to visit it. The zoo maintains the habitats that replicate the animal’s natural surroundings in the wild. However, since I attended during the holiday season, you may notice from a few of my photographs that exhibits were decorated for Christmas.

Smiling Raccoon

The zoo was designed to educate visitors about the animals on display with each animal exhibit featuring a display with interesting facts about the animals. Zookeeper talks were also available at designated times to answer questions about animals.

Mountain Lion

While some of the animals have apparent injuries, like the three-legged Kit Fox others are not quite as noticeable such as Elinor, the three-year-old black bear who is suffering from a brain injury when she was hit by a car as a cub.

Kit Fox

Thankfully the Orange County Zoo provides a safe space for these creatures to rehabilitate and live out a healthy life. Elinor has therapy every day according to the Zookeeper who I chatted with for a bit.

Elinor the Black Bear

Elinor

Samson the Black Bear

The Orange County Zoo is undoubtedly worth a visiting, and perhaps you can make a day of it by planning a picnic in the park.

Bald Eagle

Golden Eagle

I spent about three hours in the zoo, looking around at all the exhibits and even revisiting a few of my favorite animals like the Kit Foxes, Black Bears, and Coyotes.

Coyote

Ocelot

Bobcats

On the way home I stopped to visit my favorite parks, Peters Canyon Park, it is not only one of my favorite places to hike, but the park was also tragically desolated by the Canyon Fire two last October 2017.

Although the park is still closed, you can see progress being made to rehabilitate and regrow. Looking at these photographs, it is hard to believe this used to be a thriving ecosystem.