MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The ‘dog days of summer’ officially are here, but what about the ‘elephant, giraffe, and panda days of summer?’
Local 24 News photojournalist Patrick Niedzwiedz went to the Memphis Zoo to see how the animals --and their human visitors-- spent this seasonably hot summer day.
"Well, it's a nice day that a lot of people in Memphis are getting off, and well, what better time to come to the Zoo?," Justin Braden said.
"It's pretty. The zoo is so pretty. Like, it's so pretty. I think that is what I was impressed with. Just how pretty it was, how clean it was," said Lakisha Johnson.
"I love the, what's that called? The sanitary stations. I love that," Kandis Seidel said.
"We went to go see the bears. They were swimming. Of course I wish I was too, Braden said."
"Grizzly bears are just so big and large that like it's rare that you ever get to see them up close. So, I kind of enjoyed getting to see a wild animal up close," said Bianca Blakely.
"...and then for me the hippos. I got great footage of the hippo coming directly towards me," Johnson said.
"The pandas and the komodo dragon. We've been enjoying some of everything," Robert Shields said.
"She got to see elephants. Haha. And that was your favorite right?," said Julie Johnson.
"I think it's a perfect family, like they're 16 and 11. So, it didn't take us out of our family context. It was the perfect place for us to be able to bond," Lakisha Johnson said.
"It's just been beautiful. Everybody's in a great mood. It's not too hot today," Shields said.
"It's a large zoo in a relatively small town. For as big as it is, it has enormous variety of animals," Tom Johnson said.