Curious penguin

 

I got the action cam GoPro Hero3 Black Edition a few days ago, and to test it I went to the Copenhagen Zoo. Here a very curious penguin tried to connect but didn't seem to understand that there was a thick glass wall between photographer and beak. The Hero3 camera is small, it's very easy to use with only three buttons, it got wifi so you can operate it with an app, and its 12Mp sensor can record both still, bursts of up to 30 shots in one second, time lapse and up to 4K video. But best of all, I think, is the frame rate, if you shoot in rather low resolution; 120 frames per second in 720 pixels. So if you shoot a clip with that and slow the frame rate down to 25 fps, you get a smooth slow-motion. Tomorrow I'll show you the whole video I shot yesterday.

 

Bullying

 

The hooded crows are both pretty shrewd and they've got a lot of nerve. One is going for the meat, the other bully the seagull by pulling at its tail feathers. In the end the seagull surrendered to the two bullies and flew away to get easier food. It only shows that two small ones can get the better of the big one if they work together.

Getting close

One of the most anticipated things about the new Arctic Ring area at Copenhagen Zoo is that you can get really close to the swimming polar bears. Only a thick glass wall separates the spectators from the bears and as a tunnel of glass brings you under the basin as well, you can really enjoy the animals in their element. I'm looking forward to going there on a day, where I don't have to use my elbows to get a glimpse of the action, though.

Exhausted

 

 

With all the new surroundings and the crowds of people watching, it's no wonder the polar bear here needs a power nap. The Arctic Ring in Copenhagen Zoo is a huge success, but it does take its toll on the bears.

Northern Light

 

You might be lucky to see northern light in Denmark a few times a year, but due to light pollution that is usually not possible in Copenhagen. But now you can experience an artificial version in Copenhagen Zoo's new Arctic Ring. In one of the connecting tunnels light projectors make the illusion as you walk through.

 

The Arctic Ring

The new area in Copenhagen Zoo is amazing. Called the Arctic Ring there's a bigger area and basin for the polar bears and a cliff for North Atlantic birds. At the moment the only downside is that it's very popular so there's always big crowds of people, so I think I'll wait a few months before I'll be able to get really nice pics of the diving polar bears.

Rooaaarrr

This lion cub will not be bullied by its older aunt. When the lions got cubs there's often something going on in the enclosure in Copenhagen Zoo.

A place in the sun

The tigers in the Copenhagen Zoo are Siberian tigers so they don't mind a bit of Danish winter, but they still like the sun when it's available. To catch some of those rare rays of sun this tiger has climbed the tree to get up into the sun.

Run, Zebra, run

 

I bet this zebra really longs for some change in the weather, even if it seems a bit perky in the snow here in Copenhagen Zoo. But summer is only a dream here as winter still bites hard. A spell of warmer weather should hit later today, so maybe she's just celebrating in advance. Or heading for cover.

 

Icy

The Amur tigers in Copenhagen Zoo enjoys the arctic weather we've got here the last few weeks. This one didn't have trouble getting up in the tree but, being a true cat, the way down was a bit more troubled as the ice was prominent.

Good friends

The giraffe calf and the zebra seems to be good friends, even grooming each other in the winter cold. Apparently there's no need to be at each other's throat at the Copenhagen Zoo.

Food-fight wolf-style

 

Before dinner these two wolfs in the Copenhagen Zoo had to decide who should have first dip at the meat. And after a bit of snarling and snapping, one decided to wait a bit.

 

Hello to you

 

Some of the animals on the savannah of Copenhagen Zoo seems to be greeting each other, even if they're of different species. This antelope and giraffe met and exchanged a friendly sniff before they went on their own business again.

 

The many faces of tigers

 

For the readers of this blog it can't come as a surprise that I enjoy the Copenhagen Zoo and that the tigers there are among my favorites. Zooming close (a 500mm zoom lens helps there) while snapping away will give you a whole range of different expressions on the faces of these beautiful predators. This one was taken just at the beginning of a yawn but the result is a kind of sinister sneer.

 

Go away, I'm sleeping!

Yesterday morning quite a lot of people probably was like this when woken up prematurely. The tigers in the Copenhagen Zoo sure didn't like to be interrupted a few weeks ago when I disturbed their beauty sleep.

King of the hill

 

The male of the lions in the Copenhagen Zoo seems to be king of the hill here. Even though I like to snap a few photos of the lions I mostly find them a bit dull as they pass most of the day sleeping. Only when the cubs are around are the adults a bit more active, mostly trying to fend off the sneak attacks of the little ones.

 

A kind of savannah

 

In Copenhagen we've got our very own savannah, well kind of. In the zoo there's an area where some of the species from the savannah are roaming among each other; zebra, gazelle and rhino are in the same enclosure, with the giraffe in their own area bordering the rest. Theses two youngsters seem to get along pretty good regardless of differences.

 

Critters

It's not only the big and famous animals in the Copenhagen Zoo that I find fascinating. They've got a fair share of smaller critters as well, like the banded mongoose on this photo. A very active and social animal they're fun to watch.

Portrait of a tiger

 

As told on this blog before the tigers in the Copenhagen Zoo are among my favourite models. They always seem to be on the prowl and it's fairly easy to get some nice shots, even though the background is often a bit of a problem. Not on this one, though, as the sun made a nice dark shadow behind the big cat.

 

A new baby hippo

 

Just a few days ago a new hippo calf was born in the Copenhagen Zoo. Maybe the hippo on this photo anticipated the coming new one and new that rest would be scarce, so it might as well start yawning beforehand.