I visited Noah's Ark Zoo Farm and was very impressed with the variety of species - and therefore, the variety of movements - they had on display. I got some excellent research out of the trip; my only regret was that my phone battery ran out before I could film every single animal!
Click Read More to see my sketches and videos.
The meerkats were interesting to observe because their long bodies give them a unique gait, with their backs usually arched most of the time, and the long claws of their front paws also seem to contribute to their scuttling movements.
I was lucky that this reindeer came right up to the fence between me and it. It has an interesting combination of long legs and proportionately large hooves, giving it a slow, considered walk.
This lioness, Vilma, is the youngest of the zoo's four lions at two years old, and it shows in her movement: her keeper described how she likes to chase zoo patrons up and down the fence, and you can see the youthful playfulness in her walk. It's a shame the fence obscures her form in this video.
As the largest land mammal, African elephants are bound to have unique movements; as I observed in my notes, they transfer their weight very carefully from one leg to the next, resulting in a slow and steady walk.
I also observed a rabbit who briefly appears in the documentary Super Powered Owls...
...and the North American River Otters at Slimbridge Wetland Centre. Like meerkats, their long body gives them a unique gait, and it was interesting to see them in the water as well as on land. As the keeper said at the talk he gave, they twist and turn like twisty turny things. Watch this one climbing up a log:
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