"Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo ..." | Eastern North Carolina Now

The playful Red Panda on the Asia Trail just across from the home territory of the Giant Panda - The National Zoo's star attraction: Above. A resting Cheetah just before the setting sun of an early March afternoon: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage
   The National Zoo, with its campus at 163 acres in the Rock Creek Park, is expansive for a city zoo, but small enough that the visitor has an intimate visit with its exotic inhabitants. And while the visitors have miles of walking scenic pathways within the rolling Rock Creek watershed, the animals are rather confined.

The Smithsonian Zoological Park, originated in 1890 as part of the Smithsonian complex, affords one a wonderful opportunity for a brisk walk in the fresh air of a chilly winter's afternoon: Above. When I visited in 2010, there was a major construction project to broaden the zoological exhibits in these Rock Creek Park hills: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage
In this confined area the fleet footed Cheetah does not have the space to take down their prey, so a meaty bone will have to do: Above. This small cat is of the lynx family, but of which branch of the family tree, I am not certain: Below.     photos by Stan Deatherage
This Sumatran Tiger probably sees me, and others of my meaty countenance, as a tasty morsel: Above and below.     photos by Stan Deatherage