on friday I braved the pouring rain and trekked off to taronga....despite the downpour had a fantastic couple of hours wandering around....highlights-
~an 11 week old male fennec fox, hand raised by keepers is being reintroduced to his mother
~the pygmy hippo breeding program may be underway. the male is visibly 'turned on' by the female, in a backward kinda way! the two animals are in the old malayan tapir enclosure
~as Boof said in an earlier post, the Moore Park aviary is open again, and is being used to display a range of species including a mix of tree shrew and squirrel
~big work on Gung's facility is underway, alot of excavation
~champions of regional diversity may be wearing black with what could be the passing of the regions' last Muellers Gibbon. Mary, the 40 something spinster was nowhere to be seen and her moat drained. perhaps renos or something, or perhaps she kicked the bucket
~elephants going well, of course. foot xrays, browse, scatter feeding and swimming seem to keep them pretty busy
~fishing cat back on display in the Cats of Asia precinct. have not seen them there since the early 1990s
~baby gorilla thriving
~no seal show on now, as relocation to GSO continues
~no emporer tamarins on display
~tree kangaroo pair in together
~the snow leopard cubs (with retarded looking eyes) still in with mum
~no exciting francois langur births, or silvery gibbons. fingers crossed
*************************************
MINOR GRIPES
~im going to harp on about Backyard to Bush. for $11 million i would like to see a few more animals, such as some more kangaroos or wallaby.
~im also going to be critical of some misleading wording....in the visitor information leaflet the zoos has declared it union of the Pygmy Hippo as the only viable pairing of this animal in the country. untrue. also, the hopes of this species surviving in the wild does not pin upon this particular program. this sort of rhetoric bores me and risks undermining the value of the really important conservation work the zoo does.
~the elephant toy box, containing paint brushes, harmonicas etc is an important enrichment tool. but it doesnt stimulate natural behaviours. elephants dont paint in the wild. or play harmonicas.
~finally. the food. considering it only costs $37 to get into the zoo, which is worth it, the $8.90 baguette seems a bit steep. the food needs to be improved upon and made more affordable for families!
EMPTY EXHIBITS
jungle cats
gibbon ponds
new guinea enclosure
bush section of B2B
Great Southern Oceans must surely be getting close to being opened fully. looks great, will post pics when not drunk
~an 11 week old male fennec fox, hand raised by keepers is being reintroduced to his mother
~the pygmy hippo breeding program may be underway. the male is visibly 'turned on' by the female, in a backward kinda way! the two animals are in the old malayan tapir enclosure
~as Boof said in an earlier post, the Moore Park aviary is open again, and is being used to display a range of species including a mix of tree shrew and squirrel
~big work on Gung's facility is underway, alot of excavation
~champions of regional diversity may be wearing black with what could be the passing of the regions' last Muellers Gibbon. Mary, the 40 something spinster was nowhere to be seen and her moat drained. perhaps renos or something, or perhaps she kicked the bucket
~elephants going well, of course. foot xrays, browse, scatter feeding and swimming seem to keep them pretty busy
~fishing cat back on display in the Cats of Asia precinct. have not seen them there since the early 1990s
~baby gorilla thriving
~no seal show on now, as relocation to GSO continues
~no emporer tamarins on display
~tree kangaroo pair in together
~the snow leopard cubs (with retarded looking eyes) still in with mum
~no exciting francois langur births, or silvery gibbons. fingers crossed
*************************************
MINOR GRIPES
~im going to harp on about Backyard to Bush. for $11 million i would like to see a few more animals, such as some more kangaroos or wallaby.
~im also going to be critical of some misleading wording....in the visitor information leaflet the zoos has declared it union of the Pygmy Hippo as the only viable pairing of this animal in the country. untrue. also, the hopes of this species surviving in the wild does not pin upon this particular program. this sort of rhetoric bores me and risks undermining the value of the really important conservation work the zoo does.
~the elephant toy box, containing paint brushes, harmonicas etc is an important enrichment tool. but it doesnt stimulate natural behaviours. elephants dont paint in the wild. or play harmonicas.
~finally. the food. considering it only costs $37 to get into the zoo, which is worth it, the $8.90 baguette seems a bit steep. the food needs to be improved upon and made more affordable for families!
EMPTY EXHIBITS
jungle cats
gibbon ponds
new guinea enclosure
bush section of B2B
Great Southern Oceans must surely be getting close to being opened fully. looks great, will post pics when not drunk