When you hear a sound and can not only immediately deduce that two giant land tortoises are getting it on, but can also shrug and say, “Been there, seen it,” it may be a sign that you’re a zoo fanatic (or a biologist studying the mating habits of tortoises, which, alas, I am not).

That was the case for me today when we visited Zoo Atlanta. While standing outside the reptile house, we heard a loud bellowing from the stick-pole-fence exhibit to our right. I looked over and saw that it was an enclosure for giant tortoises, and I immediately knew what was about to happen:

I was no stranger to this scene, however. A few years ago, while in Washington DC, I witnessed a similar ritual at the National Zoo. Just like then, it was funny to watch people’s reactions, especially those with kids who aren’t quite old enough to know about the birds and the bees and the tortoises. A young woman with little kids thought at first that the male tortoise was bellowing because it was stuck. Upon a second look, though, she quickly deduced, “Oh, he’s not stuck.” An older lady in her party, perhaps her mother, still was a bit confused, but instead of explaining what is going on, the young woman just repeated, “He’s not stuck,” until the older lady made the connection and immediately told the kids, “Alright, into the reptile house. Let’s go,” and rushed them away.

With such frisky business going on at the zoo, it was no surprise that we saw a number of baby animals today: warthogs, monkeys, golden lion tamarins, orangutans. We also found out from a zoo keeper at the giant panda exhibit that the female panda, Lun Lun, is pregnant, something they only discovered a couple days ago. The zook keeper, however, cautioned that it’s too early to celebrate, as miscarriages are common in pandas.

The abundance of cute baby critters was only part of what turned out to be a great day at the zoo. For the second day in a row, we were blessed with mild, overcast weather, which not only made it more comfortable to walk around but also induced the animals to be more … lively (especially the tortoises, apparently). We also didn’t run into much of a crowd, which was a bit of surprise considering that the Fourth of July weekend is upon us. We happily accepted our good fortune and enjoyed what was by far the least-crowded giant panda exhibit we’ve ever seen.

The zoo was pretty well designed in terms of giving visitors a good view of the animals despite some sizable exhibits. Every large exhibit had multiple viewing areas, allowing you to see the animals no matter what corner they may be hiding in. The lemur house, for instance, had pedestrian walkways up in the canopy, where the primates lounged. At another exhibit, we were at eye level with an adorable red panda that was snoozing in the trees. She was lying on a branch only about 15 feet away from us, making us wonder how she hasn’t leaped from the branches and escaped.

We were particularly impressed with the number of great apes at the zoo. There was a big pack of gorillas in an expansive exhibit, and a good number of orangutans in another sizable enclosure that could be called their Club Med without much exaggeration. It had multiple “huts”, playing areas, hammocks, and even giant fans blowing cool mist in the direction of the apes. In this idyllic environment, the orangutans apparently are free to let their inhibitions fall by the wayside and let it all hang out:

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