Meet Zuri

Knowing it was going to be a beautiful day Saturday, we decided to pass the afternoon at Utah Hogle Zoo.  I was particularly interested this time as I had been wanting to see Christie's (African elephant) new baby girl for quite awhile.  The last time we were at the zoo, Christie was about to give birth in 2 months.

So, Zuri, which is Swahili for "adorable or beautiful" was born August 10, 2009.  She made her public debut when she was 1 month old and weighed slightly over 300 lbs.  She now weighs over 750 lbs since mid-June and is absolutely the most adorable and cutest thing ever!  Her mother weighs in at about 7,000 lbs for comparison.  If you want to keep track of Zuri's adventures, you can click here Baby Zuri.

Here's a video (uploaded by Deseret News) of Zuri, that captures her personality perfectly:





Here are my amateur photos:

Christie and Zuri

Hmmm...."that looks pretty good."

Zuri... "I think I want some too."

Very playful, wallowing in the mud and splashing.

The longest eyelashes I've seen on a girl....lol

Ohhh...that leaf really looks tasty!

Trying very hard to reach those leaves.  Unfortunately, this giraffe was not successful.

Finally, my hubby doesn't seem to realize that my biology degree consisted of only one semester of zoology.  And so, noooo, I was not aware that camels can go for 6 months without any water and can drink 30 gallons of water in 10 minutes.  Whoaa!

Hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend and staying safe!