Well, i booked my super expensive ticket to the zoo, but managed to get $10 off because i was staying at the super expensive backpackers (which is the cheapest place in town...); and once i booked it i was like a little child... filled with excitement about going to the zoo... ;-) It was a bit strange, because in theory i do not support animals being held in captivity, but in actuality i love to be able to see these animals that are really difficult to see in the wild. I also really liked the intention behind the zoo of helping animals, so that kind of made it okay for me to go there.... that is what i tell myself anyway... I was so excited because i had not yet seen a koala bear – though i had seen many signs of them on the way down south... where the croc signs stop the koala signs start...mmm... i wonder if there is any connection?
I was also excited about seeing a duck billed platypus – when i was in primary school, we all had to do projects about Oz animals, and mine was on the DBP, so i was very surprised to see that they did not have them on display. I asked the bus driver why they didn’t have any, and apparently it was about getting the enclosure right and they didn’t have that sorted, so i unfortunately did not get to see them.
I did get to see koalas though – and plenty of them, they have about 3 or 4 enclosures with koalas, and then there is the photo opp with a koala... and even though it cost $20, i decided that it was a once in a lifetime thing that just had to be done, otherwise i would have regretted not doing it. That way i got to hold the koala as if it were a baby. They don’t smell as nice as babies but they are furrier and more cuddly – you win some you lose some! Thankfully they put a bit of tissue paper on your hand, which is where they place the cuddly koalas butt, and by the brown stains on the tissue, i was grateful for its presence!
There is a Kangaroo enclosure that you can walk through petting the female koalas, some of whom had little joeys in pouches – and some had big joeys in pouches!! Occasionally the little guy would stick a head or a leg out, i spent some time trying to capture that moment, but i was always too slow...
I saw the crock show in the Crocoseum, where they begin with snakes, move onto birds and then bring out the croc. The snakes bit was okay – been to many snake parks in SA so it was nothing i hadn’t seen before, the bird show was awesome! They had trained the birds to go flying around the stadium, so that was pretty impressive! And then there was the croc. They bring out this smallish croc (3m), and they entice him to various places with food, and even make him jump up for his food, like they do with dolphins in an oceanarium.
After the show i went to collect my koala photo, and then continued trying to see all there is to see at the zoo. They have loads of snakes, a few wombats – strange little bear-like creatures – emu’s, cassowary’s, achinda (porcupine like creatures), dinasoar like iguana, giant tortoise from Africa, Asian elephants and tigers, as well as red panda – that was so far up the tree i could hardly see him. It took me all day to go around the place!
I did find the place to be a bit like a mausoleum though, trying to immortalise Steve Irwin. So that was a bit odd, as they were playing videos of him at various places, they had pictures of him everywhere. It just felt a bit odd...
'Who dunnit?'... all that is missing is the white chalk outline... |
Taipan snake... highly venomous... |
The illusive cassowary... |
The Emu |
Wombat |
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