Mandarin Duck - male, Zie-Zoo, Netherlands

Opening the set for a small zoo visit. The zoo is called "Zie-Zoo". Most of the staff members suffer from autism, this zoo giving them a safe place to work where they are treated with patience, understanding, room for mistakes.

Note that the Netherlands has the most zoos in the world, relative to land mass. So we have plenty to pick from. This zoo is rather small and does not try to compete with the big ones, instead it is a mix of general and popular small animals combined with some pretty rare ones.

This male Mandarin was found directly after the entrance. It was an unusually hot day. A small ray of sunlight reflected back to the chest of the Mandarin, giving it some bottom lighting.