After you have entered through the turnstiles and made it through security. The next stop on our tour is actually an area that you are standing on right now. For it is here that you are now in a large, outdoor, plaza-like area that is officially known as the “Conservation Commons”. It is here that you and other visitors are able get themselves a bite to eat at the *Commissary Creatures* counter-service restaurant, use the restrooms, shop at the *All Things Wild* gift shop, take some pictures, or if necessary, to get some extra help and assistance at the nearby *Gateway Center* Guest Relations building. While there are no live animal exhibits in this part of the zoo, adjacent to the plaza’s exit, there lies ahead, the next stop on our tour. For in which, it is a large, open-topped, outdoor pond that is usually a year-round home to an all-female trio of
0.3.0 Australian Pelicans, several breeding groups of both
5.5.0 Wandering Whistling Ducks and
3.4.0 Australian Shelducks, a single post-reproductive pair of
1.1.0 Pacific Black Ducks, as well as a variety of wild, and native waterfowl that are oftentimes attracted to the enclosure, via leftover scraps food from the feeding dishes that the keepers usually leave out only for the captive birds. Now even though these native birds such as
Mallards, and some other notable species, consider the zoo as a safe haven from predators and other perceived threats. It is best that all guests should easily restrain themselves from feeding both these wild birds, as well as all other native animals whatsoever, no matter how cute or hungry-looking the animal might be.
After leaving the Pelican enclosure behind us, and turning slightly towards the right. We have now arrived at the first, of the nine total major exhibit complexes that I will be describing for you in detail throughout the course of this thread. But of course, it is best that we begin to enter the aviary with not only excitement, but also with an overall understanding of how I will describe the area as a whole. But now, let us begin:
LORIKEET JUNGLE: - (two exhibits)
Entering right through the double-door system that helps to separate the birds and reptiles (indeed, I said reptiles) from the outside world. Your mind will soon start to wonder if this 90,000 sq ft aviary is actually a small slice of a real jungle placed in the heart of Rembrandt Park. But in fact, this is the overall result of the zoo’s horticultural team that have strived to convince you, and other visitors that you are within an actual Australian Rainforest. Each of the plants that you see in this aviary, were all carefully planted, and selected to be both bird and reptile-safe, (thank you
@Moone for the helpful suggestion), along with each one being at least native to the exact same regions where the birds naturally occur in the wild, with plants such as Grevilleas, Banksias, Bottlebrushes and much more being found, and planted all across the entire free-flight aviary itself. Like most lorikeet exhibits in zoos, Rembrandt Park’s lorikeet exhibit is an interactive experience where guests of all ages are able to walk inside, as well as to (optionally), buy as many as two popsicle sticks per person, (I will explain this detail further below). Of course, the exhibit itself would not be called the *Lorikeet Jungle* without it being the home up to three species of lorikeet and one species of lory, for in which all of them are individually listed below, as seen here:
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7.7.0 Rainbow Lorikeet
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6.4.0 Black-Capped Lory
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6.6.0 Coconut Lorikeet
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5.6.0 Yellowish-Streaked Lorikeet
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5.5.0 Pied Imperial Pigeon
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3.3.0 Radjah Shelduck
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2.2.0 Masked Lapwing
In addition to the birds that are listed above, the main lorikeet aviary also contains a (somewhat), unique concept of allowing a small, but still sizable bachelor group of
9.0.0 Eastern Water Dragons to freely roam throughout the main aviary itself, as well as a large, shallow pond that can suitably satisfy the needs of the shelducks, as well as being the home to a sizable breeding group of
3.5.0 Kreft’s River Turtles, as well as a smaller group of the more threatened
2.3.0. Branderhorst’s Snapping Turtles.
Going back to the popsicle sticks that I mentioned earlier, this is mainly due to the fact that some guests, (such as small children), may oftentimes mishandle the little metal cups that are filled with sticky nectar that other zoos give out to their guests, so in response of not making the same mistakes as these other zoos have been facing. Our facility has always resorted to only using popsicle sticks with a special powdered nectar on one tip of each stick, for as long as the exhibit has been open to the general public. Now before you exit out of the main aviary, and the overall *Lorikeet Jungle* exhibit complex as a whole, there is also a separate aviary that is far smaller in size, but yet it is still a luscious enclosure, for in which it is currently home to an already experienced, breeding pair of
1.1.0 Blue-Winged Kookaburras.
(8 bird taxa)
(
3 reptile taxa)
Soon after leaving the *Lorikeet Jungle*, you begin to notice that the path in front of you, has already split into two separate directions, with the path straight ahead of you leading towards the *Swan Pond*, and the *Wetlands Walk* exhibit areas, while the path that takes you to your left will take you closer towards the next stop on our tour; so definitely stay tuned for as the next time that we will be touring the zoo, the next exhibit complex that we will encounter is the all-indoor, *Amphibian Ark Conservation Center*, also known as the “AACC”.