^ With out a tripod, hand holding a long lens + small dslr body with out a grip and no VR/IS can make for a very shake picture unless you bump ISO and shutter speed.
In the end different lenses in the VR line or IS line will have varying degrees of performance. Its definitely a good thing to have for the most part when hand holding. If you have a tripod then it seems to be better off. Or in this case panning with slow shutter speeds to catch moving targets and blur background
My old prime has niether VR/IS or Auto focus. So my zoo trip was interesting. The tiger and bear shots were taken by hand. Eagle and most of the penguins were taken on my tripod. I think the first few penguin were by hand also.