Gladys Porter Zoo - Brownsville, TX

On New Year's Day we went to the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, TX. We went there last year and they have the best gorilla display I have ever seen. They also have great Tigers that are actually moving around rather than sleeping all day. I have some great video from that trip but I do not know how to edit it and put it on the blog so all I have are pictures to share and we did not get any of the tigers.

The gorillas are at the front of the zoo and the first animals we saw. One puked/spit out something it was eating and then picked it up and squeezed the liquid into it's mouth. That grossed everyone out. And then when another pooped in his hand we decided to move on. I have heard of poo throwing monkeys and I did not want to find out about poo throwing gorillas. We went back later and some people were feeding the gorillas chips and oranges. They are not supposed to do that but they were not rule followers. The gorillas were very active and fun to watch in the afternoon especially with the food being thrown. Once again we really enjoyed the gorillas.

Flat Stanley enjoyed the gorillas as well.

Brett, Jared, Ryan and Flat Stanley with the flamingos.

Ryan the explorer using the binoculars/compass combination he got at the Texas State Aquarium.

Last year when we tried to feed the birds they were not hungry and we could not get them to eat anything. This year they were hungry and cleaned all the food off the sticks. It was fun. Here is Ryan, Jared and Brett feeding a group of birds.

Ryan has a couple of the birds interested in his offering.

Brett sought one out that was a little more difficult to reach.

Jared was tempting this one to get him to come a little closer.

Flat Stanley enjoyed feeding the birds too.

Ryan coaxing one over towards him.

Brett and Jared reaching over the edge to get some of the more shy birds.

Finishing-up the food on the sticks with whatever bird wants to eat.

It looks like this joey is getting a bit big for his room.

When we came walking around the corner Ryan saw this big alligator statue and jumped back because he thought it was real for a second. He was really startled. Here he is showing his bravery.

Jared is taking it to the alligator.

Brett wrestling it.

Ryan, Jared, Flat Stanley, Brett and me at the zoo.

The big male lion. He was sleeping for a bit and then later he got-up and was jumping and pawing at the glass between him and the people. At this zoo the lions and tigers are active. I could not get a good picture of him when he was at the glass because of all the people around and I had the telephoto lens on the camera so I could not get back far enough. I did get some video of all the activity though.

Ryan, Brett and Jared taking one of the turtle statues for a ride.

Ryan petting one of the goats at the petting zoo.

Jared and Flat Stanley petting one of the goats.

Ryan riding the giant tortoise.

Brett thinks he might just buck for him.

Jared taking him for a ride, without Flat Stanley this time.

Brett Jared and Ryan all on the turtle.

We had a great time at Gladys Porter Zoo. After going to the zoo we drove to Kingsville and stayed the night there. Then we drove the rest of the way home on January 2nd. It was nice to split-up the drive from Brownsville into two days and we got home in plenty of time to watch the University of Utah whip-up on Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. Go Utes!