Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium

We haven't had the best luck with zoos when it comes to going with Brady. The first time was at the Detroit Zoo last October for a Diabetes Walk. It rained, so we only got to see two animals. We then went to the Columbia Zoo in June and it was over 90 degrees, so a lot of the animals were hiding in the shade. I thought that it would be nice to take him to the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium while we were home. This way, I could choose a nice day and it would be cool enough that the animals would be out for him to see. He is pictured above and directly below with his souvenir stuffed penguin that his Nana bought him.


We headed to the zoo on Monday and it was about 62 degrees. Unlike a lot of other zoos, it is actually located inside the city limits. Nana decided that she would push the stroller because it was easier to walk (she's had a knee replacement), so I was free to use the camera.

Brady and Nana

Snow Leopard

Tigers

Flamingos

Rhino

Leopard. This was one of Brady's favorites since it was just walking back and forth against the glass.

Ostrich

Elephants. Notice there are several baby elephants in there (including the one directly above). The Pittsburgh Zoo is one of the few zoos that has been able to breed elephants in captivity, so there are always baby elephants. They are the founders and primary source of funding for Project Dumbo which is actually an elephant sperm bank if you can believe it.

Giraffes

Several monkeys that were seen inside the monkey house. This was also one of Brady's favorites. Makes sense since he's our little monkey ;) It's also one of his favorite animal sounds to make.

Bears. We were only able to view the Polar Bears and North American Black Bears. We're getting to that time of year when the bears are starting to hibernate, so the other species of bears were not in their enclosures.

Seals

Now we've entered the aquarium. It was only added to the zoo 7 or 8 years ago and although I've been to the zoo since then, I had never made it inside the aquarium. It was really cool that they had several types of penguins (a Pittsburgh favorite). They were really playful, too. They are really quick underwater and several of them were chasing each other in the water.

Octopus

Sharks

Rays. They were in an open tank so that you could pet them. My mom is not quite used to how crazy Brady can be. She was holding him up and when she reached in to pet the ray, Brady was up to his elbows in the tank. He was wearing a sweatshirt, so his sleeves were soaked. My mom was still getting his hands out, when he started to reach down with his head to drink out of the tank! Only my kid ;)