I am way behind posting and make an executive decision: To share a few photos from our second trip—today—since rejoining San Diego Zoo as annual local members (first visit pics are forthcoming). My wife and I parked around 50 minutes after opening, and already the place was packed with families; by the accents, many were adult tourists and their kids.
Annie loves the red pandas (see second shot); a male lives in the main zoo and the female in the children’s area. On the way to the male, we passed the Giant Panda enclosure, where one could be seen sleeping. You tell me: Is that Yun Chuan or Xin Bao?
Much later, we visited the female red panda, who munched down on breakfast. In what I can only describe as a cruel tease, the curators placed the caracal pen adjacent to the red pandas. We saw and could hear the big cat hiss and stalk his neighbor—as you can see from the third photo.
I used Nikon Zf and NIKKOR Z 24-200mm f/4-6.3 VR lens for all three portraits, which are composed as captured. Vitals for the Featured Image: f/6.3, ISO 450, 1/250 sec, 200mm; 10:08 a.m. PDT. Second: f/11, ISO 1100, 1/125 sec, 110mm; 10:48 a.m. The last: f/6.3, ISO 500, 1/250 sec, 200mm; 10:50 a.m.