Oct 26
Once more
I know I said that I would never go to a zoo again, but I had an opportunity to meet with other photographers so I caved in.
For every visit to Järvzoo, my only wish is to get good pictures of one species – you can never get them all anyway, so one is good. The birds are the trickiest ones and the great grey owl (Strix nebulosa) has always eluded me, I’ve never succeeded in creating a single keeper after years of trying. Until now, that is – I was fortunate enough to have the camera ready when the owl yawned, and I was amazed to see that the picture is sharp!
And for some reason the expression on the bear’s face is one reason why not to like animal captivity. Then again, not all of them seemed to be overly bored or stressed or such, in some cases quite the opposite. To be brutally honest, I was over hyped with my precious new toy to be too much bothered
I think I will continue in my own blog on this subject…
You pulled the trigger at the perfect moment
Bear surely looks bored and depressed, or just lost 
Yes we should be careful not to anthropomorphise but the symbolism was too obvious to miss, the metal strap and the expression speak volumes. A moment later one of the cubs came begging for milk (not successful though) so I think in reality the sow was just tired, I mean four playful cubs is a lot.
Having visited many zoos around the world, I can testify that Järvzoo is one of the better ones. I can’t remember I’ve ever seen the Järvzoo mammals display stress behaviour, but I do feel sorry for many of the birds, for example the hawk owl that was flying around and trying to break through the netting.