Our last full day in Australia was indeed full of yet more wondrous sights. We started out with another delicious breakfast, followed by a bus ride up the coast towards the zoo. We spent the better part of the day at the zoo so strap yourself in for a very picture heavy post! We were dropped off by the bus pretty much at the front doors and eagerly shuffled with the crowd into the ticket office. Australia has always been one of those places on this world had that I looked forward to seeing. Having grown up watching programs like The Crocodile Hunter and reading books on the wildlife of the outback, I found it difficult to contain my excitement as we started our way around the park. Our first stop was the pelicans where we got an even closer look at these amazing water birds who mostly sat pruning themselves.
With a quick bathroom stop and a gander at the menu of the local restaurant, we continued in search of some terrestrial wildlife. The best part about this park was the way it was set up. It was far more interactive than many zoos, with most of the displays being walk through and a few were similar to exhibits in petting zoos but also contained areas where those that were tired of little children could retreat too. Our first encounter with one of these was the kangaroo and wallaby exhibit. Most of the critters were hiding in the shade, beyond the visitor's access area, but the two that sat in the open were calm and allowed us to freely pet them. They were incredibly soft and Mary-Ellen commented that they were surprisingly softer than rabbit. It was very cool to be able to come up close to these guys, one of Australia's most iconic marsupials.
From marsupials to birds, we headed into the first bird exhibit. We had heard these guys in the distance and now we would get a chance to see the kookaburra in such a way that they could have only been closer if they swooped down and landed on our shoulders. I had the opportunity to see and hear them at the Franklin Zoo in Boston, but those experiences paled in comparison. Sitting on signs, branches, and even on the ground, these amazingly beautiful birds proved to be very photogenic. Above the enclosure, wild kookaburra sat, seaming to tease those within the enclosure, which was probably the only sad part about it, but it did not deter the individuals within the aviary to get as close as possible and start their bellowing calls to signal the intruders that this is their territory.
I am not normally a big fan of birds in enclosed spaces, but my excitement definitely overcame any inhibitions I had. There were also a few other birds in with the kookaburras, including this regal looking spoonbill, a similar species to the ones we saw in the Catlins.
The birding over for now, we continued our journey through the park to see some more marsupials. The wombats, relatives of the koalas, were pretty interesting to watch. Some were very active, wandering around their enclosures or trying to fulfill their position as the largest burrowing mammal in the world and unsuccessfully make the great escape. The others were quietly lounging, some flat out on their backs sleeping.
Some of the other megafauna included impressive cassowary birds, whose colourful heads bared a face with a rather serious look befitting such a large and potentially aggressive bird. The dingo exhibit was somewhat lack-luster for me, as these rather noble looking animals still strongly resemble their closest relatives and possible ancestor, the domestic dog. Still, despite appearing to be little more than a dog in its kennel, it was nice to finally see one and later on hear them howling.
The next area was a series of aviaries filled with parrots, parakeets, doves, and several water birds. With no birds that I was pumped to see and many of them flying around above our heads, the usual uncomfortable feeling set into my stomach and we did not linger long in these exhibits. That being said, there were some astounding birds; huge crested parrots, tiny doves, huge pigeons like the wood pigeon of New Zealand, maroon coloured ibis, and pairs of parrots and parakeets sitting together on just about every perch.
The birds and mammals eventually gave way to that other group of iconic Australian animals, the reptiles. Not a particularly lively group, but these exhibits rarely are as we watched two monitor lizards basking in the sun relatively motionless. This brought back images of one of the classic animated children's movies, the rescuers down under, and the scenes of "Joanna" steeling eggs and patrolling the corridors for potential escapees.
At this point, I realized that the zoo was not particularly set up with any designated organization of animal groups or biomes, at least not along the route we were taking. Again, I must commend the zoo for doing such a great job of not bogging you down with too many of the same animal. It made it easier to move and linger at one exhibit to the next without making you feel like you had seen plenty of "this" already. It also came back around to yet more of the petting zoo style exhibits, as we entered another kangaroo encounter. I never tired of seeing these guys with their doe like eyes and their huge lashes. They were calm and seemed so peaceful, which is often the case of petting zoos, but there was an almost dog like sense of potential domestication about them, as if they would make a good house pet. Of course, this wouldn't be a good idea, as these are wild animals and watching them jump from place to place, would hardly be ideal in an average household. I am sure there are some people out there, but these guys belong free to venture through the outback and in the bush, not the living room, and it was truly a privilege to get to see them up close.
The reptiles were well represented in the next exhibit and this time they came out in full force. It started with the freshwater crocodiles and as with most of the reptiles on exhibit, they were all basking. These fellows seemed uninhibited by their neighbours, sitting literally on top of each other, soaking up the rays. They were practically motionless and many had their eyes shut, just laying with that ominously toothy grin on their face. It is of course, not surprising why people would fear these creatures, and they would be wrong to think otherwise, but for those parts of the world where people would purposely slaughter these ancient creatures out of simple fear rather than imminent danger, or worse, for profit, is simply unthinkable. This amazing body form has persisted long before mammals and birds and hopefully will continue far into the future.
But if one was to think that those little guys were dangerous, they would be overwhelmed with the titanic nature of the saltwater crocodiles. These huge scaly creatures were impressive to say the least, being the largest living reptile in the world. This was truly the closest in scale that anyone is likely to get to be in the presence of a dinosaur, and they looked just as ancient. It was also, again, very exciting to see this iconic species of Australia. All the years I spent watching Steve Irwin jumping on these enormous creatures in an effort to save them by trans-locating or bringing them to zoos for rehabilitation and now I was getting to witness the immense size and in an odd way, the beauty of their form, through my own eyes.
These dinosaurs were massive, and it was hard to get over the size of them. Many had been rescued, a few were born in zoos, and one was even deformed at hatching, and yet despite the name "Gummy" and his crossed jaws, he was still an imposing animal. It truly was difficult to get an idea of scale with the pictures and we did not stay to see the feeding which would have been probably the best opportunity, but this gives us yet another excuse to return to Australia, and this time, likely go to Australia Zoo, the home of Steve Irwin, to get a better view of this king of the reptiles.
Just over half way through, we started to see more repeat enclosures of the animals. More monitor lizards and wombats mostly, but as we passed these we got our first good glimpse of that most iconic Australian animal, the Koala.
This was the maternity ward, an area where females in the zoo's breeding program are quietly on display. No flash photography was allowed, as we strolled alongside the perches staring at the grey balls of fluff. We made it at the right time too, as two of the caretakers came in to do weights and administer medicine for the mothers and their joeys. The first was a reasonably older joey and he was weighed separately from his mother. Despite being a ball of fur, the two opposable thumbs on each hand and the long claws made it difficult to handle a joey reluctant to leave his mother and wanting to cuddle. The mother was a veteran though, and she just leisurely moved from the other handler onto the weighing station with little fuss, her joey watching from its purchase on the first handler.
The next mother had an even smaller joey and they were measured together, while the third mother still had her joey in her pouch, and we got to see the little tyke sticking his hand out. Unfortunately, despite taking a great many pictures, the lack of flash in the sheltered enclosure made it very difficult to take great pictures. Still I managed to get a few good ones of the mother with the oldest joey.
By this point, it was photo opportunity time and we piled into the eager lineup. There were not nearly as many people as I expected but they took pictures quickly to get through the lineup and relieve the little star as soon as possible. It was only around for a half hour at most which helps to reduce stress for the Koala. It was a great experience, feeling the hard pad in their bottom and the coarse hair. They were not nearly as cuddly as you would expect, not as soft as the kangaroos, and had a slight musky odour to them.
With a good wash and another bathroom break, we headed into the reptile house to see the diversity of scaly critters found on this wild continent. They had many familiar faces, including monitors, skinks, and many venomous snakes who I was glad to view from behind a thick plate of glass. My personal favourite was the frilled lizard. "Frank" was not interested in spreading his frilled neck for me, but it was still interesting to get to see one up close as he scaled the bars of his enclosure, possibly looking for a way to escape. We also got to see a few amphibians, which was by far the least well represented of the class of vertebrate animals in the zoo.
After squeezing through the busy reptile house, we returned to the maternity ward to find most of the females awake and eating, their young clinging close. They may not be as cuddly as one might think, but they are definitely as cute as expected. We found ourselves gravitating to the koalas, and likely to this unique view of mother and joey that would be highly unlikely to be seen by the average person in the wild.
We grabbed a burger at the restaurant, with a koala in the background likewise enjoying some lunch. We had seen most of the park at this point but wanted to see the marsupial interactive before we headed back to Cairns. We wandered past the last exhibit we had left to see, the Komodo dragon. Again, I was glad to have some barrier between us and this imposing lizard whose savage bite could be fatal, and has been for natives of Komodo Island. Despite this fact though, it was hard to not be impressed by the sturdy body and size of this beast, the current day king of the lizards.
To fill up the rest of the time, we headed back to the Kangaroos to get a few more shots of these fantastic animals. We all know they jump to move, but it is such an odd sight compared to the mammals we are used to seeing and I found it captivating.
Then came the show where we learned a bit about the related wombats and koalas. We learned that wombats, despite their similar cuddly look to koalas, are similarly capable of inflicting harm. They have sharp rodent like teeth but it is there incredibly hard behinds that they use to plug their burrows and their ability to produce an incredibly strong back kick that make them so dangerous to one of their only living predators. If dingos attempt to prey on them, they can get a terrible kick, and if in a burrow, they can even crush the dingo's skull between its rump and the burrow, eventually dragging the dingo carcass out to leave as a grizzly warning for other predators. A bit gruesome as the interpreter said, but amazing how this animal likely evolved and may have used this strategy against its extinct predator, the Tasmanian tiger. So for the entire demonstration, the interpreter kept a close eye on the two cheeky females who mostly were interested in eating. The koala we were introduced to was aptly named Romeo, a veteran of their breeding program. He ate most of the demonstration but eventually agreed to come down and see us. It was definitely worth waiting to see and talk to the interpreter about these critters.
Before we left I took one last opportunity to go see my feathered friends, the kookaburras. I got to also see the frogmouth birds which we missed the first time, but what was great was getting the call of the kookaburra on tape. We eventually had to say goodbye to the park and our laughing feathered friends and boarded the bus back to the city. A great introduction to Australian wildlife and a wonderful day out.
