Global Wildlife visit

This weekend, hubby and I took the drive to Folsom to visit the Global Wildlife Center. I hadn't been there in close to ten years and it was a joy to return.
Home to over 4,000 exotic, endangered, and threatened animals from all over the world, it is is a non-commercial,non-profit organization, established to help preserve and protect endangered species, and to help educate the public.

If you have kids you really should visit. All the kids on our tour loved the interaction with the animals. Here are some pictures of some of the things we saw.
click on pictures for larger versions


This plaque is by the fish pond. I love its message. Speaking of the pond, it is full of the biggest koi fish I have ever seen! And there's a huge catfish that comes out to feed every once in a while. I could've just stayed by the pond all afternoon and watched them feed.



There's a collection of kangaroos there now, new from my last visit. They have to stay fenced off from the other animals due to their dietary restrictions.

A few months ago, the people at Global found an abandoned baby Kangaroo. They took him in and named him Skippy. Here's a video of him learning how to hop





Before our tour started, we watched this family of giraffes following another tour ($35/head). Apparently the giraffes got enough to eat from this car because when our tour started they ignored us!



Here they are chasing the car after it took off. It was great to watch them run, especially the baby.



Before the tour train takes off, the driver honks the horn three times. First, to let the riders know it's time to sit down and second to alert the animals. Once we started moving, at least 100 emu's, both grown up and babies started running toward our train.



I have never seen so many tame deer in my life!



Next stop was the camels and they stink. Ugh. There were two types of camels, a dromedary and a bactrian. Once that big head came toward my side of the train, I was up and on the other side.



This bird was hanging around the camels. I can't remember its name, but I do remember the tourguide telling us that this type of bird mates for life and he lost his mate. They tried to introduce him to another bird but he ignored it.



That's not a buffalo, it's a bison. Our guide was sure that we all understood this.



On one of the stops I looked toward the back of the train and was amazed at the number of animals feeding. With 6 tours a day, these animals are well fed.



It's out of the way, but I suggest everyone take a trip to Global Wildlife. You'll definitely leave with a smile.