Sunday, November 11, 2012

Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo (Field Trip)


Tiger cub at Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo, is a pint-size zoo in Gulf Shores, known as the Little Zoo That Could, from the Animal Planet series of a few years ago. The zoo is a remarkably fun outing for families, especially those who want to get really close to wildlife, like tiger cubs and lemurs that are brought out for encounters with human participants.

Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books
 The zoo's stars are the baby tigers, but the zoo is also home to exotic birds.


Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

and humble tortoises...

Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

There is a  petting zoo with goats...

Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

And because this the Gulf Coast, there are gators that may be real...

Gator. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

And gators that definitely are real.

Gator. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

This monster one is famous. His name is Chucky and back in 2004, he escaped from the zoo during Hurricane Ivan. He was captured after five days of freedom. At 12 feet in length and at least 1,000 pounds, I'd say that took some serious gator-rassling to bring him him in.

Chuckie at Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books
The zoo has more than 290 animals, including lions, tigers, bears, macaws. There's everything from timber wolves...


Timber wolf. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

to swans. I wonder if some of the animals sleep at night. Predator and prey live pretty close to each other here.

Swan. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The stars, of course, are the baby tigers and for a donation to the zoo, you can get up close to the animals. We watched while the others played, and although we didn't get to touch the animals, we were still much closer than we ever expected to be to Baby Tigers.

Tiger encounters. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

The cubs are led out to the encounter area with all the buzz of a Hollywood premiere.

Tiger encounter. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books



Tiger cub. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


Tiger cub. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


Petting a tiger cub. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books


Playful tiger cubs. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Snack time. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books.



Tiger eying teddy bear. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Baby tiger with teddy bear. Lucy Mercer/A Cook and Her Books

Be sure to visit the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo when you're on the Gulf Coast. And check out its website: www.alabamagulfcoastzoo.org. The zoo will move to a new location in Gulf Shores in 2013. Look for it!

Text and images copyright 2012, Lucy Mercer.

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