The Heart of Africa

Once again the Columbus Zoo has created a visitor experience that is beyond belief.  

The newly opened Heart of Africa is a 43 acre African savanna that features over 150 animals.  Gazing out on the savanna you can see multiple species all grazing at the same time.  It is impressive to look over this vast landscape and see zebras, wilderbeests, gazelles and giraffes all together in the wide open space.

Combating Cabin Fever

It’s been a harsh enough winter in Central Ohio (and most places) that 37 degrees felt down right balmy, so in order to beat the cabin fever, a quick trip to the Columbus Zoo & Aquarium was in order. The Columbus area is lucky to have a zoo like this here. The Columbus Zoo is home to over 9,000 animals representing over 700 species, it has about 580 acres of land with just about half dedicated to the zoo itself. The Columbus zoo operates its own conservation program, donating money to outside programs as well as their own conservation efforts. The zoo has a close working relationship with The Wilds (another favorite place of mine) which is a 10,000 acres animal conservation center in southeast Ohio.

I had one goal in this trip and that was polar bear photos. I can never seem to get any good photos of the Polar Bears. It will be four years this spring that Polar Frontier opened at the Columbus Zoo, so it’s been awhile that I've been trying to get a decent shot of these guys.

Today’s journey was well worth it. This particular polar bear put on quite a show for me. She swam, dove and in general just played in the area right in front of me for a good 20 minutes. Pop over to my Columbus Zoo & Aquarium gallery to see more of her as well as some of the other fabulous animals from today’s zoo visit.