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And another photo that has been in my Stash folder for years!

Back in 2013, we visited the ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen, which is among my fave zoos, though I might be biased. They are the only zoo around here that keeps hyenas, which always makes it a worthy photo-target, as you might know from previous uploads. On this particular day, we spent some time in front of this enclosure, while people came and went, with the kids usually commenting "Ewww hyenas, they're stinky and evil!" even if the animal in question wasn't even in sight (or close enough to smell). Disney's Lion King definitely did its job...

As closing time drew near, with fewer patrons coming past, one of the hyenas focused its attention on us. After a while, we were able to "play" with it by running back and forth in front of the enclosure, while the yeen tried to follow us on the other side, including the occasional excited jumps. And then, it splashed into the moat between us and swam across, right up to what appeared to be a thin wall of reeds, leading to this photo. For a few seconds, we were genuinely worried about the apparent lack of a proper fence! Took a few seconds to realize that those are in fact welded steel bars made to look like reeds. Definitely a clever design choice, and representative of the way in which most enclosures are integrated into their surrounding at this zoo.

Description

And another photo that has been in my Stash folder for years!

Back in 2013, we visited the ZOOM Erlebniswelt Gelsenkirchen, which is among my fave zoos, though I might be biased. They are the only zoo around here that keeps hyenas, which always makes it a worthy photo-target, as you might know from previous uploads. On this particular day, we spent some time in front of this enclosure, while people came and went, with the kids usually commenting "Ewww hyenas, they're stinky and evil!" even if the animal in question wasn't even in sight (or close enough to smell). Disney's Lion King definitely did its job...

As closing time drew near, with fewer patrons coming past, one of the hyenas focused its attention on us. After a while, we were able to "play" with it by running back and forth in front of the enclosure, while the yeen tried to follow us on the other side, including the occasional excited jumps. And then, it splashed into the moat between us and swam across, right up to what appeared to be a thin wall of reeds, leading to this photo. For a few seconds, we were genuinely worried about the apparent lack of a proper fence! Took a few seconds to realize that those are in fact welded steel bars made to look like reeds. Definitely a clever design choice, and representative of the way in which most enclosures are integrated into their surrounding at this zoo.