Colchester Zoo - cuteness contest!

[Yandros]

The fluffy residents of Colchester Zoo were battling today for most adorably cute critter.

The margays are pretty adorable, but blotted their copybooks by de-furring their bunny lunch in such a graphic manner that the horrified kids in the audience will be scarred for life!



Cute ickle serious monkey munching on a green bean...



Pygmy marmoset - striking a 'hero pose', but sadly his attempt at macho posturing is undermined by inherent cuteness...



There aren't many things cuter than a red panda - particularly a yawny one that's just woken up...



and one of those cuter things is a fennec fox. Clearly forgetting he's nocturnal, this one ventured out to pose in the sun for a few seconds...



aaaand, in my number 3 slot is the old favourite - the baby meerkat. Gained bonus points for trying to run up inside the keepers trouser leg!...



At number 2, I reckon the common as muck meerkats are beaten by this this little darling....sooooo sweeeeeet!!! Can't remember what it is though (everyone?). I think it's a member of the deer family, but this baby is only about 6 inches long!...


The winner though really is pretty much the cuteness thing ever - a baby fennec fox!




She was also the hardest to photograph. We had to wait until she was lured out of their hole at feeding time, into their dark nocturnal enclosure so it was 1/45th second handheld, 105mm, pretty much wide open at f3.5, 1600 ISO!

Here she is a few days ago - apparently her ears twanged upright only the other day!...

http://www.colchester-zoo.co.uk/inde....detail&id=421

[Biscuit761]

Oi - Colchester Zoo is my patch, who let you in ?

Very cute pictures Yandros, particularly the Fennec Fox, we have hardly seen those stir in all the trips we have made this year so to get one moving and to get a cub is good luck. Did not even know about that one.

Your right about the Red Panda as well, king of cute.

Think the baby deer might be a Dikdik.

Nice set. Are you local to Colchester ?

Bill

[denno75uk]

There are some seriously cute animals there, very well captured. I love the framing of the margay and the poses of the marmoset and red panda.
Some stiff competition, but I reckon I'd go with your choice of winner.
Nice one.

[Yandros]

Originally Posted by Biscuit761

Oi - Colchester Zoo is my patch, who let you in ?

Very cute pictures Yandros, particularly the Fennec Fox, we have hardly seen those stir in all the trips we have made this year so to get one moving and to get a cub is good luck. Did not even know about that one.

Your right about the Red Panda as well, king of cute.

Think the baby deer might be a Dikdik.

Nice set. Are you local to Colchester ?

Bill

Thanks! We're not too far away - between Basildon and Billericay actually. Though Colchester is my old stamping ground as both my partner and I went to Uni there.

I spotted the baby fennec fox on the website, and they give the tip that the feeding time is about 3:30. They run around like crazy then, burying the meat in the sand (which is what the cub is learning to do in that second pic). They keep the cub under the big rock in the middle of the left hand indoor enclosure. Here she is first emerging, with a yawn and a stretch!...



I just found out that the baby deer is a chevrotain (mouse deer) - probably the lesser one. The adults are about half the size of a dikdik, and the baby is less than half that...REALLY tiny! You get an idea of scale from the wood chippings.

[Biscuit761]

Nice shot, perhaps we will bump in to you some time there.

Bill

[Bristol Pete]

Originally Posted by Biscuit761

Nice shot, perhaps we will bump in to you some time there.

Bill

Nice work and Bill, he is bound to!

[Mr_E]

This was on b3ta newsletter recently...

http://scienceblogs.com/zooillogix/F...0-%20Sloth.jpg

Why is it on the beach?

[stevegreen]

#1 is great.......perfect place to be sitting and you photographed it well

As for that little fox thing.......I don't know why but the first thing I thought about was drop kicking it over a fence