Lions and Tigers and Bears...Oh my!!!!

First I have to let you all know that today is Tobey's 7th birthday, so happy birthday doggie!!! This is pretty much how he spent his birthday:
Sleepy dog!!!
He spent the day with our friend Dre, who was nice enough to come and doggie-sit so we could go to the Out of Africa park today. Talk about up close and personal. You get to ride in "bush buses" through the park with some of the animals in free range. We fed a giraffe from the bus, and here he is licking Scooter's hand:


Then we have zebras:



and bears:


And a tiger:


This is the "tiger splash" show that we watched. This white tiger's name is Chalet. The lions and tigers are not trained. There were a few moments when the other handlers had to come running to help.

And this lioness is Kumba. Both Kumba and Chalet are 22 months old. They are young enough to play, but also know how to hunt, so the handlers have to be careful. The male lions are all at least 5 years old, so they do not get human interaction anymore because they are too territorial and predatory.

The toys are to play with the animals ans also to distract them in case they forget that the people in there are "friends", not meals.

Then there is Boom Boom, the 38 year old Rhino. He did not move all day, he just slept, and he snores rather loudly.


Then it was off to the birds. One of them talked a little, but they mostly made a lot of noise.


I have never seen animals so close. There were other animals and more lions and tigers, but I can not put them all on here. It was a very good day. This park is amazing and I would highly recommend going there if you ever find yourself in AZ. It was a beautiful day, about 80 degrees. I brought a sunburn home with me today, of course! But otherwise it was wonderful.