Marie
Well-Known Member
The Wild Outback
The exhibit starts with a sign over your head "Welcome to the Australian Outback," and as you walk forward on the Orange stamped concrete pathway, you hear a strange chortle sound. You look to your right, over the small shrubs that line the eight-foot-tall fence and see kangaroos. The area is 1,000 square feet with 8-foot tall fences and has different species of Australian plants inside. (All of which's reproductive cycles have been researched to prevent accidental invasiveness.) There is one male and nine female Red Kangaroos (Macropus rufus) inside, and each female has a joey. You watch the Kangaroos hop around and continue walking.
You pass a kiosk that is selling Australian food like Golden Gaytime ice cream and Milo milk drinks. There is another enclosure up ahead, a koala enclosure! There is four koala enclosures side by side to each other. There are four different koala enclosures, one for the male and female Northern Koala subspecies (Phascolarctos cinereus adustus) and one for the male and female Southern Koala subspecies (Phascolarctos cinereus cinereus). The enclosure pattern will be Male, Female, Female, and Male. In-between the two female enclosures there will be an info-board that discusses the difference of opinion about the possible existence of a third subspecies of the koala (Phascolarctoscinereus victor). The enclosures have an area of 270 square feet and have a 6 foot tall, 3-foot thick concrete wall separating them. Any trees that are determined to be close enough for a koala to go into another habitat will be completely removed or have the close branches removed. You stay for a little while and then continue on. Different flowering plants adorn the sides of the pathway (All have been researched to prevent accidental introduction to the environment.)
You pass signs that tell you facts about the outback and you can hear the birds before you even see them. There are four large domed aviaries, two on your right and two on your left, and each has a separate bird species. Outside of the Budgerigar aviary, there is a worker selling Peanut butter and birdseed treats for 25 cents. The aviaries look like black igloos and each has a vestibule at the entrance. Inside, each vestibule has a motion-activated hand sanitizer machine and a sign on the door that reads "If any bird gets out, don't panic or try to catch it! Please let the closest worker know." There are four species of birds Budgerigar (Melopsittacus undulatus), Major Mitchell's cockatoos (Lophochroa leadbeateri), Galah (Eolophus roseicapilla), and Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea). Each species is kept in a separate aviary to prevent interbreeding. The one closest to you, on the right, is the Budgerigar aviary which has 50 male budgies to prevent breeding. The one on your left is the Galah aviary which has 5 pairs of Galah. The one on your far left is the Little Corella aviary and the one on your far right is the Major Mitchell's cockatoo. Since the Budgerigar is the only aviary with all males, there are different practices used to discourage bird breeding in remaining aviaries. Each dome has a diameter of 30 feet and a floor area of 700 square feet.
You continue walking and see another kiosk selling food and drinks outside of a building. There is a sign on the doors that says "Reptile Roundup" You pass by the seller and enter the building. The building's air-conditioned, but each tank has a timed indoor heater to mimic the heat patterns of the Australian Outback, so the glass is warm. You see a large tank once you first enter and it has a Thorny devil (Moloch horridus) inside. The enclosure is 4 feet by 3 feet and has five thorny devils inside. A Stimson's python (Antaresia stimsoni) 6ft x 4ft x 4ft enclosure, Orange-naped snake (Furina ornata) 4ft x 2ft x 2ft enclosure, Mulga snake (Pseudechis australis) 9ft x 5ft x 6ft enclosure, Curl snake (Suta suta) 5ft x 4ft x 4ft enclosure, Desert Death adder (Acanthophis pyrrhus) 3ft x 3ft x 3ft enclosure, Inland Taipan (Oxyuranus microlepidotus) 6ft x 3ft x 3ft, and Speckled Brown snake (Pseudonaja guttata) in a 5ft x 4ft x 4ft enclosure can also be found at the Reptile house. Outside of the reptile house is a Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) enclosure 25 ft x 20 ft x 15ft and a Sand Goanna (Varanus gouldii) enclosure 10ft x 7ft x 5ft.
As you continue walking down the path, you see one more enclosure. It holds 10 Dingoes (Canis lupus dingo) on five acres of land! There is an eight-foot-tall fence that surrounds the territory and four tower viewers that you can pay 50 cents to use if the dingoes aren't close to the fence. As you leave the Australian Outback exhibit, there is a little gift shop that sells things like hats and cute Australian stuffed animals.
What do you think? This is my first time doing this so I'm sorry if it isn't what you were wanting
Is there anything I should change?