Potter Park Zoo - Lansing

Yesterday, I decided to go to a place I've never been before. One of the Pure Michigan posts on Facebook mentioned the Potter Park Zoo in Lansing. I never realized there was a zoo there, so of course I looked it up and saw that they had some animals that the Detroit Zoo doesn't have. Lansing is a little over an hour away, so I decided to head up there.

Potter Park was established in 1912 with the donation of 58 acres by J.W. and Sarah Potter who were a prominent couple in Lansing. The James M. Turner estate donated a herd of elk in 1915 and some deer were donated thus creating the Zoo. Over the years, land was donated until the Zoo was about 104 acres. In 2006, ownership of the Zoo was switched to Ingham County.

One of the first exhibits you stop at is the Bald Eagle exhibit. I was amazed at how close you could get to them. Using my larger zoom lens, I was able to get shots of their heads (this picture is not blown up at all). My only complaint is that they are behind a mesh, but the mesh is wide enough that it wasn't an issue.

I believe the eagles at this zoo are in the process of rehabilitation and will eventually be released back to the wild at some point. Hence the mesh around their cage. I never thought I would get a shot like this of an eagle just staring at me.

I kind of like this shot.

This is an African Spurred Tortoise. The picture doesn't do justice to just how big this animal is.

They have a pretty neat farm area. This is one of the goats catching some shade.

The Lion enclosure is pretty neat as well. One part of it has a large glass and theoritically you can get right up to the lions. There is also an inside portion where I saw the male lion sleeping. This picture almost looks like, "If the glass wasn't there...you'd be lunch".

I really like Lions.

This is a very typical cat pose. That sort of disinterese when things aren't worth it to the cat any more.

And there's interest again.

"Hmmm...I could probably take you."

The Meerkat exhibit was outside, so I was able to get some nicer shots than at the Detroit Zoo.

There is a fairly small reptile house. This one is an iguana, I think.

The Missasauga Rattlesnake. These are actually native to Michigan.

Not sure what kind of lizard this is.

A fairly typical meerkat pose.

The meerkat looking around.

And of course...peacocks wandering around the zoo. I wonder if these come standard?

The tiger pen was where I had some trouble with the cages. I kind of wish it was like the Detroit Zoo where you can get an uninhibited picture of the animals. This was kind of a cute pose though.

One of the things they have at this Zoo that they don't have in Detroit is snow leopards. This looks like a pose Zappa makes every so often.

Looking intently at something.

They also have a camel that you can ride.I believe this is an Eurasian Owl.

Some camels that you can't ride.

This is a corn snake. They often get mistaken for coral snakes.

A kestrel.

Another shot of the kestrel. It's amazing that this bird of prey is so small.

And another shot.

I couldn't resist the eagles.

Another animal that they have that is not at Detroit...the wolf. This one was staring right in my direction.

And looking around.

More eagles.

Another shot of the eagle.

I'm not happy with this shot of the river otter but it was the only one I could get.

All in all, I would say that I was pretty happy with the zoo. It is a bit smaller but some of the exhibits are closer so you can get nice detailed shots of the animals. I didn't like some of the cages the cats were behind though.