Animals I've Poked

...and don't be gross. This in response to Liv's lovely St Louis zoo photos, I've decided to make a laundry list of the animals that I got to pet, prod, feed, or generally get nearer to than is normally considered safe during my tenure at Brookfield Zoo.

First, there's the not so spectacular stuff.

African elephants (got to pet)

Reticulated giraffe (got to feed)


Got to feed BAGELS (both mama and baby)

Ok, then things start to get a little interesting.

African warthog. They have very stiff hair on their backs. (Got to scratch with a back scratcher.)


Aardvark (got to hang out with inside it's enclosure--they stink to high heaven, btw)

baby polar bear (got to be in the same room with but not touch)

and finally, my favorite, the okapi: a forest relative of the giraffe, endemic to the Democratic Republic of Congo and with a coat as soft as velvet (got to pet).

I think that's about all, but I may have to amend this list if my memory ever improves.