We got close enough to see the tiger’s breath! Click to enlarge and see for yourself. If I had to come home from vacation, I must admit this was a very good way to do it!!
The Sumatran Tigers are in a brand new, outdoor, 5.2 acre, multi-level exhibit at The San Diego Safari (Wild Animal) Park. The exhibit houses breeding tigers and is filled with trees, plants, waterfalls, streams and ponds.
There are currently approximately 400 Sumatran Tigers left in the wild.
There were originally nine sub-species of tigers in our world, but three of these are now extinct due to habitat destruction and poaching. All tiger sub-species are critically endangered.
Poachers kill Sumatran Tigers for their bones which are used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine.
The San Diego Zoo and Park supports tiger conservation by breeding tigers to insure genetic diversity through cooperative exchange. It also actively supports The International Rhino Foundation whose mission is to protect Sumatran rhinos, tigers and other mammals in Indonesia, with seven trained patrol units that deactivate snares and traps, and apprehend poachers.
It is painful to contemplate killing such magnificent creatures, much less wiping out whole sub-species. Hopefully the efforts of the San Diego Zoo to conserve and educate will help to prevent further destruction.
For more info check out: http://www.sandiegozooglobal.org/ICR/purpose
My son volunteered for the non-profit ICR and can attest to the cutting edge work they do daily in species conservation.
Cheers to you from these incredible animals at Tiger Trails~
Month: May 2014
The Cosmos in the Heart of a Flower~
When we look deeply into
the heart of a flower,
we see clouds, sunshine,
minerals, time, the earth,
and everything else in the cosmos in it
Thich Nhat Hanh
Deep in their roots all flowers keep the light
Theodore Roethke
Let life be a deep let-go. See [God/Spirit/All That Is] opening millions of flowers every day without forcing the buds.”
Bhagwan Shree Rayneesh
Gardens are poems, where you stroll with your hands in your pockets
Pierre-Albert Birot
In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends
Kozu Kokakura
“To analyze the charms of flowers is like dissecting music; it is one of those things which it is far better to enjoy, than to attempt to fully understand.”
Henry T. Tuckerman
Cheers to you from Queen Elizabeth Gardens Vancouver BC~
Share this:
Vancouver’s Multicultural Embrace~
Intricately beautiful street mural downtown Vancouver. Please click to enlarge to soak up all the detail. I love the energy and richness of Vancouver’s multicultural experience.
Check out these street murals at the entrance to Chinatown for example.
They provide snapshot depictions of Chinese Canadian history in the city.
I appreciate the artists who contribute their time and talent.
It is such fun eating in restaurants here and exploring the antique shops,
the food markets,
and the herbalists and herb shops.
Check out these monster dried mushrooms! Don’t they make you want to dine out in Chinatown? The food is divine!
Cheers to from Vancouver’s fascinating Chinatown~
Share this:
Duck, Duck, Goose~
How do you spell tranquility?
Quack!
How about a cabin on a lake, with ducklings…….
wait up, quit quacking around,
and of course Canadian goslings…..it’s Canada after all!
What could possibly be more calming,
than a peaceful lake,
with paddling ducks,
on a sunny day,
in Canada?
Cheers to you from all the Canadian quackers!
Share this:
Fallin, Yes I’m Fallin…..
and ‘Canada’ keeps callin,
me back again!
Narin Falls BC Canada.
Brandywine Falls BC Canada.
Hope you’re falling for these Canadian falls too! Cheers to you from beautiful BC~
Lyrics: Lennon & McCartney
Share this:
The Fjords of The Sunshine Coast~
(Please click to enlarge).
We are in a very remote cabin. People may say this sometimes when maybe it isn’t really true. But trust me. It is completely true. This is how our luggage was brought up to our “off the grid,” hyrdo (read river) powered cabin in The Tantulus Mountains.
Our “stuff” was truck-pulled up the funicular (my word), dumb-waiter (my husband’s word) to our minimal-carbon footprint “chalet.” There are a lot of rules to living up here which I will not bore you with, but the place is so knock your socks off beautiful you won’t believe it, and I will post photos of it soon so you will believe it.
I am however chronologically (as well as spelling and directionally) challenged, so I am going to post the photos in consecutive order. For now, check out the spectacular beauty of The Sunshine Coast.
I managed to post these because we left our chalet and drove down the pitted dirt road in the peaks, to go get groceries, where I found a place that actually had wifi! God Bless Starbucks! They really are everywhere and they always have wifi, as well as low-fat Carmel Macchiato latte……ahhhhhh civilization! You don’t appreciate it until you leave it.
This is the view from the place we stayed in Egmont before we commenced “roughing it.”
It is located on the Shookumuchuck Inlet.
The inlet is in a vast wilderness area reached via Egmont Canada.
These rock formations are further up the inlet, viewable by boat, in the Jervis Inlet.
There are bald eagles everywhere!
Cheers to you from our stunning, lovingly constructed mountain abode, in the tantalizing, non-latte drinking, tips of the Tantulus Mountains!
Share this:
Bald Eagle Family on Their Kill!
Check out the bald eagle family on their kill! We saw seven eagles today and I got a lot of clicks. I was puzzled when I came upon a fresh kill site and was looking around trying to figure out who the predator was, when all of a sudden I looked up and realized I was at a eagle’s fresh kill site being stared at by a most perturbed eagle! That’s him above. (Please click to enlarge).
Here is the juvenile. What a thrill to watch him! He was as big as mama.
Beautiful isn’t he?
Here’s the eagle on the kill. There were multiple kills deposited here, fish and birds.
The eagle has landed!
Here is mama and her offspring.
This eagle was outside our balcony when we got up this morning, farther away, but still a thrill!
We are in Egmont Canada where these photos were taken. Internet is via satelite and is extremely slow here so please forgive me for not being able to follow your posts as I would like. I can only squeak out a post when the satelite is beaming it’s rays upon me, which isn’t often! In two days we move deeper into the wilderness, into the Tantalus Mountain Range where the peregrines and bald eagles nest in the highest concentration in North America! We missed the orcas today spy hopping in the inlet.
Cheers to you and may the spirit of the eagles soar directly to your heart, as they have into mine!
