A Zoo Day

Today I am an observer at the zoo. An observer is someone who learns new things by watching what happens around them.

A zoo is a place where people can go to observe or watch wild animals and their behaviors.

I am an observer today because many people work together to make sure the animals are happy and healthy.

Veterinarians are animal doctors.

They help to keep the animals at the

zoo healthy.

Biologists are scientists that study

the animals behavior. They know what animals like and

dislike.

Zookeepers make sure the animals

have a clean place to live and plenty of food.

Today I learned that I am an omnivore. Omnivores are animals that eat both meat and plants. Fruits and vegetables are plants.

The zookeeper said that each animal has its own diet. A diet is the food each animals eats. If an animal eats food that is not in its diet the animal could get sick.

I saw two black bears at the zoo. Bears are omnivores just like you and I. They like to eat cabbage and fish.

They also like to eat berries and honey.

These two zebras are eating grass. They also like to eat bark and twigs. Zebras are herbivores because they only eat plants.

This is a black panther. Panthers hunt for their food. Animals that hunt for their food are carnivores.

Carnivores are animals that eat only meat.

White tigers are also carnivores. This tigers name is Jill. Jill is sleeping because she is nocturnal. Nocturnal means the animal sleeps during

the day and hunts for food at night.

Zookeeper John takes good care of the animals at the zoo. He even showed Tasha the elephant how to do fun tricks.

Biologists are observers also. They know all about animal habitats. Habitats are the natural environment animals lived in before the

moved to the zoo.

Biologist also know a lot about animals. This monkey is a mammal. Mammals are warm blooded animals with hair.

A mammal such as a

monkey has a habitat

with a lot of trees.

Monkeys like to live and play in

trees.

Elephants are also mammals.

They do not have the same

habitat as a monkey.

Elephants need open spaces so they can walk

around.

Not all animals are mammals. This is a bird. Birds have feathers and lay eggs.

Birds have different habitats. This bird likes to live in trees. He uses the bark of the tree to sharpen his beak.

This is a bald-eagle. The bald-eagle is an endangered bird. Endangered means that there are very few of this animal left in the world. Mr. Joe shows many people what a bald-eagle looks like and tells us that we should protect them.

Most birds are kept in cages so they do not fly away. Cages are used to protect wild animals.

Wild animals are untamed. This means if they are not in a cage they could hurt themselves or other animals at the zoo.

Reptiles like the alligator live in cages also.

This alligators habitat has water and land. Alligators are cold blooded so they use the sun to warm their body.

A turtle is also a reptile. Reptiles have scales and

lay eggs.

A reptile also has dry and scaly skin.

I saw a couple of amphibians on my trip to the zoo. Amphibians have smooth, moist, and sometimes sticky skin.

Frogs and newts are amphibians. They lives part of their life in water and part on land.

I found out that some animals at the zoo are not harmful to other the

animals. These

animals get to walk

around the zoo freely.

Other animals are

placed in cages so

that we can pet them.

This is called a

petting zoo.

I had so much fun being an observer today. Zookeeper John was very nice. Maybe I can be a zookeeper when I grow up.