Yes, the Zoo
ABC30 ran a story last week — in fact, it led at least one of the station’s newscasts — about a young bear that had somehow made its way into a posh neighborhood in northwest Fresno.
That’s the kind of story that gets people talking and watching. And after all, that is the purpose of a TV newscast — to get people to talk and watch.
And that’s exactly what Sharon and I did.
We watched, and then we talked about how a bear could possibly make its way out of the foothills or mountains and into a neighborhood.
And that led us into a discussion about the last time we’d been to — yes, our Chaffee Zoo in Fresno.
Our parents — like most parents in Fresno, I would think — had taken us to the zoo when we were young. Very young.
But we grew up and moved away for more than a few years. And when we returned — with children of our own — we must have taken them to the zoo.
But we could not remember when. Were our kids in elementary school?
So we made the decision, and it was easy. We headed to the zoo this past Friday.
Chaffee Zoo is part of Roeding Park in the southwest part of Fresno. Both the zoo and the park happen to be excellent, and the city is quite proud of them.
Roeding Park was the gift of Frederick and Marianne Roeding to the city way back in 1903. It’s gone through various expansions and changes, to the point where it has anywhere from 100 to 150 acres (depending on whom you ask). It boasts thousands of trees, a lake, several ponds and numerous picnic areas.
Chaffee Zoo takes up about 40 acres. It was started around 1908 with a collection of two bears and about 50 birds. Now it has more than 190 species of birds and animals. It also has exhibits such as the Kingdoms of Asia, African Adventure, Sea Lion Cove, Stingray Bay and more.
And it’s a favorite spot for school field trips.
When we arrived this past Friday morning, parking was at premium. Numerous school buses had delivered hundreds of children, and their parents had followed in their own cars.
So there we were — at the zoo’s front entrance, with a decision to make. Should we buy only a day ticket or get a membership pass that would let us come back any time we wanted for up to a year?
Yes, we bought the membership pass. After all, the zoo is a Fresno treasure, and we want to support Fresno treasures.
We stopped to get some lunch before embarking on our trek.
Then we walked into the Kingdoms of Asia, with tigers, sloth bears and more. Unfortunately, the day had warmed up enough so most of the animals had taken shelter in their giant play areas.
We contented ourselves with a photo at the Asian arch (left) — then wandered toward the bird sanctuary with its plethora of flamingos.
They were cute, all right — but not as cute as the meerkat we spotted — or that spotted us — on our way to African Adventure.
Meerkats are known for standing upright as sentries, watching for predators while their group forages for food.
This one never took his or her eyes off us. I told Sharon I’d like to have a meerkat for a pet.
She said no.
Our next stop: African Adventure. It did not disappoint.
One of the first inhabitants we encountered was a lion that was sauntering toward us.
There’s a viewing hut next to the lion’s land, and he came right up to the window where we were sitting on the other side.
He seemed completely indifferent to our presence, but I’m pretty sure things would have been different if that glass had not been there.
Then it was off to see the elephants, and this turned out to be one of our most delightful experiences.
We saw two mama elephants, each with a young one that was nearby.
It was lunchtime (maybe it’s always lunchtime for elephants — I don’t know) — and each mama started leading her child in a different direction, to their own side of their big meadow and toward their own creek and reservoir.
Each baby followed his or her mama closely. And when mama reached water and started lapping it up, baby did, as well. It was adorable.
We did not see any cheetahs or white rhinos, but we did trek around the African “savannah” to the giraffe feeding station.
There, one of the giraffes came up to Sharon’s cellphone, seemingly ready to lick it.
That reminded me of something quite similar that had happened to me decades earlier — at Fresno State University’s first Vintage Days celebration.
I was covering that event for ABC30 (then known as Channel 30), and a camel that was there (don’t ask me why a camel was at Vintage Days at Fresno State) came up to photographer Tom Terrill’s camera and licked the lens.
We put that on the air at Action News that night. And now, a half-century later, the Chafee Zoo’s licking camel gets a moment of glory (right).
It was getting warmer, and we were getting a bit tired, so we decided to call it a day.
There was plenty we had not seen, of course — including Stingray Bay, Sea Lion Cove, the tropical rainforest, the reptile house and more.
But remember, we bought a membership pass. And Sharon wants to go back soon — this time with her professional camera — and take some artistic photos.
So, yes, our Friday trek to the zoo came about because of the story ABC30 ran about that neighborhood-roaming bear — which, by the way, was spotted again but has now disappeared.
Frankly, I hope 30 does not run a story anytime soon about other creatures — such as, for example, the Loch Ness monster.
That would get Sharon and me talking again, and there’s no way to know where that might lead us.