Morocco 2023-2024 Day 31 (1/19/2024) - Rabat Zoo The Final Day of Our Visit

After a month of travelling around Morocco, Zak and Sarah decided the final day would be a relaxing wind down day, so off the the Rabat Zoo we went.  This is one of the nicest well kept zoos we have ever visited.  The animals are well cared for and the zoo is clean and layed out in a logical manner.


In front of the zoo is a statue of the Barbary Lion, now extinct in the wild, but there are a small number in zoos, so there is an active breeding progran to bring them back and possibly in the future return some to the wild.


Rather than calling it a zoo, they refer to the zoo as a Zoological Garden


Picture at the entrance of a Barbary lion that once lived at the zoo


The picture makes it look darker than it appeared in person, but this was a white Camel


Always love the mischievious Meerkats


North African Baboon


The storks have taken up voluntary residency in the zoo grounds



A couple of white porcupines


a young Serval

 

Storks everywhere

They had two male Giraffs out on display




Atlas (Barbary) Lions


THis one came close when the keeer called it over



You could tell that this is the keeper that feeds them.  He told us a lot about the program and showed us videos on his phone of yound cubs they were raising, but that were not on display.


The smaller elephant is an Aftican Elephant and the larger an Indian Elephant


Sarah wanted to feed the Giraffs, so Zak ran back to the zoo entrance to buy tickets for feeding



The keepers said that their favorite food is Acacia branches


Intiially only the smaller of the two came over to feed


Then the bigger one decidie to get in on the act.  The keeper told us they are both males


Video Link to Feeding the Giraffes - Feeding Giraffes 


The Vultures here were enormous


I would not want to run into this guy in the wild, you can't see them but he had huge fangs



Stopped for a snack, Chocolate crepes and Moroccan Mint Tea


Gazelles


a Couple of Nile Crocodiles



South African Shelducks


These African Otters are much smaller than their american counterparts


Loved the Fennec Foxes with their big ears



White Rhinos



Ring tailed Lemurs, it showed these are found nowhere on earth other than the island of Madagascar


I think the chimp was  as interested in studying us as we were him



White Peacock


Moroccan Mountain Goat



We toured the reptile house, but I am not a big fan of Snakes, 
I do like the Turtles and Tortoises


Cocktails our final evening.  Tomorrow it is straight from the hotel here to the airport in Casablance to head home.  This was the trip of a lifetime and we have never been so spoiled.  Love these kids.




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