For the past 3 years I have spent up to 4 months as a volunteer at Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas. This is an 1800 acre facility dedicated to the preservation of endangered wildlife, mostly from Africa and mostly hoofed stock. Here are some of the animals I got to see each day as I either drove a tour bus or was a guide in the 12 person vans. Visitors are also allowed to drive through on the 9.5 mile trip in their own cars.
The Addax is a desert antelope that can live its entire life without drinking water--getting the moisture it needs from the plants it eats.
The little brown "toupee" helps keeps the head warm on cold desert nights. Here at Fossil Rim they have become very adapt at begging for food from the visitors.
They are critically endangered.
The Aoudad, also known as Barbary Sheep are similar to our Big Horn Sheep. The fringe on their chest and legs helps hide them in the grasslands.
These 2 guys have found a mud puddle and love to play in the mud.
Their pupil is horizontal to allow them to see almost 180 degrees at a time.
The Arabian Oryx became extinct in the wild in 1972. Looking at them in profile it looks like they have just one horn--thus it is believed the myth of the unicorn came from them.
They are generally very shy except for "Buffy" who was hand raised and will approach the vehicles for a handout. But with those long sharp horns it's best to give her food away from the cars.
Axis Deer keep their spots their entire life. They will shed their antlers each year near their birthday which can be anytime throughout the year. This beautiful male has antlers that are in velvet, the fuzzy covering which has a blood supply to allow additional growth. Later in the year the velvet will come off and the deer develop the hard antler used to impress the females.
Although Fossil Rim has a large group of Blackbuck the day I took all these photos they were scarce. The males become black as they mature and the females stay light tan. This guy has been chasing this female.
The Bongo is very shy and on many tours we do not see them at all as they are hiding in the trees. They are this beautiful orange color with 13 thin stripes across the back.
Fossil Rim is a premier breeding facility for the endangered Cheetah.
This spring FR had 2 new litters of cubs bringing the total cubs born at FR since 1986 to 138.
These are 2 of the 5 in one litter--once they saw my truck they went back into their enclosure.
Mama Cheetah was watching them while getting a little rest herself.
The Dama Gazelle is the largest of the gazelle species. They are critically endangered.
Luckily these 4 were right by the road and you can see their beautifully shaped horns.
These Emu chicks were hatched last spring and now are out with the parents.
Fossil Rim has a large herd of European Red Deer who are cousins to our Rocky Mountain Elk and a bit smaller than the elk.
The males have lost their antlers and are just beginning to grow new ones.
There are over 300 Fallow Deer on the property. They are from Europe and Asia and during the times the Romans and others were conquering lands they kept large herds of the Fallow Deer with them as a fresh meat source.
The male Fallow Deer have palmate antlers. Only moose and caribou share that trait.
Gemsbok, one of the few antelope species able to defend themselves from lions. Many African tribes have patterned their masks after the Gemsbok facial coloration.
Look at those horns.
Giraffes at Fossil Rim are a big treat to visitors.
Visitor are allowed to hand feed the giraffes and this is Kathy enjoying her treat. Hoping for dropped food is one of the European Red Deet.
Kathy "up close and personal".
Another of the very shy forest animals is the Greater Kudu, also with thin stripes across the back.
Hartmann's Mountain Zebra are distinguished from other zebra by the wide stripes along the rump and the white belly with no stripes going all the way around. The baby nursing is about 9 months old.
Is a zebra white with black stripes or black with white stripes?
(answer at the end.)
The Ostrich loves to come and peck food from the railings of the bus and van.
They have a very large eye but their brain is about half that size.
Roan Antelope are another species that can kill a lion with their horns.
Their ears remind me of Yoda of Star Wars. Babies ears are almost the same size as the adults.
Sable Antelope tend to stay their distance from the vehicles. That said, this girl approached my truck.
After a heavy rain the night before the male Sable and another enjoyed drinking at the pond. Notice the baby Sables in the back. Also notice the horns on the male.
Scimitar-horned Oryx, whose horns resemble the scimitar sword of Aladdin fame.
They are critically endangered but at FR there are several pregnant females like this lady.
White Rhino can shape their horns to whatever shape they prefer. Rocco, in the foreground, likes the spear shape. White rhinos are grazers and have a very wide mouth.
There are lots of native species at Fossil Rim also. Turkeys, white tailed deer, roadrunners, etc can be seen throughout the park.
Since I only took photos one day I missed getting pictures of the Waterbuck and the Wildebeest. Heckydarn.
Zebras--beneath those white stripes is black skin. So--black with white stripes.
Now I am ready to move on and join the WIN group again for a summer tour of New Mexico.
Stay tuned for more adventures.
