Monday, October 9, 2000.  Outstanding day at the Dallas Zoo. I arrived a couple of hours before my scheduled appointment so I could tour the place on my own. The zoo is divided in half by a street. Visitors walk through an underpass, which is outfitted with educational displays, to go from the old half to the new half. The great apes are on the new side.

The keepers introduced me to the chimps, including Chloe, who was fathered by Coco's son David shortly before his death almost 10 years ago. They also showed me video tapes of David's introduction to the group. Got a kick out of seeing our own guy Bahati, who was born in Dallas, as a youngster on the tapes.

So that was all I saw of Dallas. From the zoo I headed straight to one of the many freeways that weave through the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex and went out to the little town of Weatherford to visit another primate person.

Links

Dallas Zoo

Images 

Entrance to impressive new tiger exhibit

Tigers

The Dallas Chimp Group

Tuesday, October 10, 2000.  Fort Worth is the home of another of my target chimpanzees -- two, actually. Coco's daughter Josie came here years ago. She has a son, Jake, who is about 10 years old. They are in a group of 5 who are kept in an off-exhibit area because the zoo has too many chimpanzees for its on-exhibit area. Josie and Jake and their companions are slated to go to the new exhibit that I saw being built in Chattanooga.

The keepers graciously took me to see Josie and the gang and talked to me about her personality and group dynamics. I hope to visit Chattanooga again when they get moved in.

Wednesday, October 11, 2000.  Time to improvise. I currently have an appointment in San Antonio on Friday, and I am trying to nail down something for Thursday. So today I bid farewell to my friends in Weatherford and aimed the car south toward Glen Rose where I visited the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, a drive-through animal park populated mostly with a variety of hoofstock species. Took lots of close-up pictures -- some VERY close.

Thursday, October 12, 2000.  Got a leisurely start this morning and drove the scenic route to San Antonio. Went directly to the zoo -- well, I did get a little lost. Spent several hours strolling along the twisty paths. Lots of narrow pathways and close-in rockwork give the San Antonio Zoo an intimate feel. Not many primates. The specialty seems to be birds, with an emphasis on cranes.

Friday, October 13, 2000.  Fantastic day! Showed up at the Southwest Biomedical Research Foundation at 8:30 AM. Although their day was turning out to be unusually chaotic, Linda B and her staff spent several hours showing me around and talking with me about the origin of the chimps at the facility and enrichment of captive chimps.

With a couple of hours to kill before my next appointment, I drove over to Lackland Air Force Base for a do-it-yourself tour of the site where I endured basic training more than 28 years ago. 

Late in the afternoon I went to the Wild Animal Orphanage / National Sanctuary for Retired Research Primates. Carol A and her staff showed me and some other visitors the facilities that are being readied for 16 chimpanzees due to arrive this month. We also saw the large outdoor living areas occupied by a variety of macaques that have been released from research.

Even though it was getting late, we were taken on a tour of the Wild Animal Orphanage, where dozens of large cats, including tigers, cougars, jaguars, and leopards, are among the critters that are housed. Each has a story. Some were relinquished by people who came to their senses about trying to keep a wild animal as a pet. Others were rescued from substandard living conditions. Still others were confiscated by authorities because they are illegal to own. I've never seen so many large cats in one place. The holding areas are not exactly aesthetically pleasing, but the animals all look very healthy.

Sunday, October 15, 2000.  Said goodbye to my friends around 11AM and headed west. When I stopped for lunch in Fredericksburg, I happened upon the annual Texas Mesquite Artists Festival where woodworkers from around the state were displaying their wares. Did some early Christmas shopping.

It was a longer than anticipated drive to Fort Stockton, but then the scenery was more interesting than I had been expecting. The hills continued well past Fredericksburg, but the landscape gradually opened up until it started looking like the backdrop for a western. The sky was also very entertaining. Everything from heavy rain clouds to clear blue skies to towering cumulus clouds that filtered the setting sun into an unusual light show.