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To create the San Diego Wild Animal Park Section, I selected nearly 400 images from several separate visits to the SDWAP, then compiled over 200 portfolio-grade images and composites, including several LARGE signed images and several M-signed and LG-signed composites).
As this section has been used quite often by teachers and students over the years, I have provided information on animals and birds to assist students in preparing reports and am allowing the use of larger-than-normal images for personal use and reports only.
Below the Display Composites leading to the Animals and Birds pages, I have placed several teaser images with large linked images and some detail crops (detail crops do not have linked images). All images usable for student reports.
San Diego Wild Animal Park images are not available for commercial use.
click on a display composite below to select a page
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This page contains selected images of animals, with a special emphasis on Lions, Lemurs, Bat-Eared Foxes and Colobus Monkeys.
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A varied assortment of birds, including a few local birds who understandably seem to like hanging out at the Wild Animal Park.
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A few teasers (images will open in a new tab or window)
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California Condor HS1880 M (click to open 1200 x 1500 version)
Celebrating the California Condor’s recovery from extinction in the wild, here is a 1200 x 1500 portrait of a colorful individual for personal use, (30 years ago there were zero wild birds and only 27 alive in captivity). There are now 400 individuals (200 wild, the rest in captivity).
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African Fish Eagle HS6455 M (click to open 1000 x 1500 version)
Also called the African Sea Eagle
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Lioness X8593M (click to open 1767 x 921 version)
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Lion HS7149 LG (click for 1500 x 1875 version) permission granted for personal use or student reports
The lion is the second largest living cat behind the tiger, with large males exceeding 550 lbs. They live in savanna and grasslands, but can live in the bush and forest as well. They are now primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, disappearing from North Africa, the Middle East and Western Asia in historic times.
The male lion symbolizes power, courage and nobility on coats of arms and national flags. Both the male and female lions roar, a sound which can be heard up to five miles away.
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Lion Cuddle HS1339 LG 2175 x 1632 (779KB)
A young cub stops by for a little love and attention from mom and dad.
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Lion Cuddle HS1326M click to open 1500 x 1200 version
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Burrowing Owl X5905M click to open 1200 x 1500 version
Burrowing Owls are small, long-legged owls that live in burrows similar to those made by prairie dogs. They are found in grasslands, farms and deserts in North and South America, and unlike other owls are active during the day, although most hunting is still done from dusk to dawn like other owls. When alarmed, they give off a hissing call like that of a rattlesnake, scaring off predators.
They eat large insects and small rodents for the most part, along with lizards and frogs. They also eat fruit and seeds, esp. prickly pear and cholla cactus, and sometimes small birds. They sometimes will chase small prey on the ground, and are really comical to watch when running.
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Red Crested Pochard HS2385M click to open 1500 x 1000 version
Part of the zoo population, this is a large, distinctive duck native to southern Europe and Asia. They migrate to North Africa for the winter. They eat aquatic plants like many dabbling ducks.
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Shoebill X5940M click to open 1000 x 1500 version
The 5 ft. tall Shoebill is a swamp-living bird that is native to Tropical Africa, with an enormous 9” long, 4” wide beak which it uses to scoop up fish, mollusks, reptiles and carrion from the mud.
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White Rhinoceros X5897M click to open 1500 x 1000 version
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Lion X6011M click to open 1200 x 1500 version
The males have a distinctive mane, and are the most widely recognized of animals, but the females are the real hunters and operate as a team, each lioness developing specific skills.
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Lioness Vignette HS7105 LG (2040 x 1632, 708kb)
This image was shot through foreground trees to create a green vignette framing the lioness.
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Lioness Sunbathing HS6685 LG (2000 x 1325, 748 kb)
The lioness has been recognized as the animal world’s most capable hunter since the dawn of human history, and have been represented on cave drawings and later artworks as the apex of hunting prowess. The ancient Egyptians and other ancient cultures gave their primary goddesses lioness aspects for certain roles. Lionesses hunt as a team, with each lioness having specific tasks to perform in the hunt. The precision and complexity of tactics used by a team of lionesses during a hunt is quite impressive, and makes them capable of taking down very large prey such as Cape Buffalo and Wildebeest with great efficiency.
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African Crowned Crane HS1174M click to open 998 x 1496 version
The African Crowned Cranes eat insects, reptiles and small mammals on the savanna. They nest in wetter habitats.
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Western Ruppell’s Vulture 3560 LG (1511 x 2100, 723kb)
The Ruppell’s is a Griffon vulture that ranges over much of central Africa. They are social birds that roost, nest, and feed in large flocks, often in the Serengeti, where they feed on the enormous number of wildebeest that die off every year (there are over a million wildebeest in the Serengeti, and they live about 10 years, so 100,000 die naturally every year). The Ruppell’s has the current record for avian high-flying: an aircraft hit one over the Ivory Coast at 37,000 feet.
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Hammerkop X8657 LG (1939 x 1293)
The Hammerkop (Hammer Head in Dutch) is a small bird that resembles storks and herons, but is related to neither (it’s a distinct species in a different family). It mostly eats fogs and tadpoles, but will also eat fish, insects and crustaceans. It lives in wetland areas of sub-Saharan Africa, Southwest coastal Arabia, and Madagascar. They create enormous nests, often using over 10,000 sticks to create a nest that will support a man’s weight, and decorate them with brightly colored objects that they find. They build nsts compulsively, 3-5 per year, breeding or not. Sometimes Eagle Owls snatch them.
They also have an interesting habit of gathering in groups of 10 or more birds, then run around each other, screeching, raising their crests, flapping their wings, and sometimes standing on one another.
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Animals of the San Diego Wild Animal Park
(1800 x 1568, 847kb)
This composite image, a reduction of the master SXXL Composite (9440 x 7350) will make a Gallery-grade matte print at 200dpi (9” x 7.84”), a good size for a Title page.
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Birds of the San Diego Wild Animal Park
(1500 x 2075, 797kb)
This composite image, a reduction of the master XXXL Composite (8240 x 11397) will make a Gallery-grade matte print at 200dpi (10.375” x 7.5”) for a cover or interior page.
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Lion Cub X1373c
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Lion HS7167c
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Lion Cuddle HS1338c
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