At the zoo

I had an early doctor's appointment on the Upper East Side this morning, and when it ended earlier than I'd expected, I took advantage of the extra time to walk for a while before rushing to work.


I passed the Central Park children's zoo, where these fine fellows were hanging out. I had hoped if I stayed long enough they'd start challenging each other for king-of-the-mountain status, but unfortunately, they must have been as affected by the heat as the rest of us.

Passing the zoo proper, I peeked through the bars to see if the sea lions were visible -- if they're lying out on the rocks, you can see them from the path -- but they, too, were probably keeping cool, under water.

There aren't many large animals at the Central Park zoo. The biggest by far I can think of is Gus the polar bear. There's a book about Gus. In the 90s, visitors to the zoo noticed that Gus seemed a little down in the dumps. I'm not sure how mental illness manifests itself in polar bears, but he was diagnosed variously as neurotic, psychotic and obsessive compulsive. The zookeepers finally sorted him out by adding a jacuzzi feature to his pool. Apparently, the moving water is more of a challenge to swim in, and Gus now looks a lot happier.


Apart from Gus, though, these elephants are the only two large animals on display at the zoo. They're called "VWX Yellow Elephant Underwear/HIJ Kiddy Elephant Underwear," by Japanese artist Chinatsu Ban.