The Zoos of Victoria

It is certain that some of the wildlife on the Australian continent is unique. There are species here that can be found nowhere else in the world. In some cases the names of these creatures are as unique as the creatures themselves. It is fortunate that one can view these animals without having to visit (and sometimes suffer in) their natural habitat. In Victoria there are three such places: the Royal Melbourne Zoological Gardens, the Open Range Zoo at Werribee and the Healesville Sanctuary.
     We have purchased a combination ticket for all three of these sites and have visited only one so far. As we add to our experience, so too, we will add to this page. There are many more pictures than I care to process for viewing and some are subject duplicates, so I will try to give you a representative flavor of what we saw.

The Healesville sanctuary is located about forty one miles northwest of the Melbourne central business district (CBD, as they call it here) in the beautiful Yarra Valley surrounded by the Dandenongs. There are over 200 species of animals to see (if you are there at the correct time of day and when it is not crowded.) such as koalas, dingoes, kangaroos and the platypus. As an outdoor park you stroll through Gum trees and Mountain Ashes and Fern trees while entering very large bird cages (to keep the birds from flying away) and standing by rails and retaining walls to see the larger and less friendly creatures (to keep them from demonstrating that).
     This was our first zoo visit, and it coincided with a two week visit of our two older children, Arija and Daniel, who had flown in from New York City two days prior. They both needed a day to deal with jet lag and thereafter were ready to "see the sights". Ari brought her new hotshit Cannon camera along, a single lens reflex digital camera with four barrel battery compartment, mag wheel lens cap and one gig tank all of which was designed for the amateur market. She was anxious to give it a workout. Many of the pictures here in the Healesville section were taken by her. Viewing fees should be mailed to Arija care of NYC.
     The park is laid out in a circular fashion. We were advised that the Birds of Prey presentation was not to be missed so we chose a counterclockwise direction around the circle to take us to the amphitheatre in plenty of time to get a good seat and see the presentation. It was the correct move. The theatre filled up rapidly as we approached the apointed time.
     The "Birds of Prey" exhibition was put on by the park rangers. The outdoor amphitheatre was located on a hillside slope affording all a "bird's eye" view of the proceedings. One ranger at a time stood in front of the crowd with glove on hand to support and control these fabulous birds. These birds were not small! They possess curved beaks and very sharp claws and wing spans that can cover a few meters. Owls, kites, peregrine falcons and even the carrion eating buzzard were presented. It is quite amazing how "trained" these birds were. They would fly around the field and catch scraps of food tossed in the air by the ranger. They landed on cue and flew very low over the heads of the crowd, so low that the crowd was warned not to raise hands or wear hats with feathers, mice or snakes on them. After twenty minutes of watching these birds fly around the theatre catching food in the air and just gliding around the sky with such grace the presentation came to an end. Afterwards a native Australian gave a comedic demonstration of the proper way to toss a boomarang.
     Once the presentations were through, we continued on our way around the circle. We came upon Wombats, pelicans and even a Tasmanian Devil. There was a baby Wombat that was orphaned as a result of a road kill event, a common occurance in Australia. This one was brought to the zoo and was to remain until maturity. At that time the animal becomes quite territorial and will no longer be able to be easily kept in the zoo, that is to say, it will require expensive caging, etc. to display it. We were told that with the plentiful supply of orphaned young, there was no need to keep and adult in captivity. Besides, they are so docile as babies that the public can safely pet them, a huge attraction if one judges by the crowds of boys and girls hanging around the pen.
      We were less fortunate with the Platypus exhibition as there were just too many people around it. It didn't help that the species is basically nocturnal and was caught napping, literally. So we moved right past the crowds and headed for the symbol of Australia, the kangaroo zone. This was a chance for Ari to give her camera drive a workout. The smaller ones, Wallabees, seemed to be quite tame and willing to be petted as you can see here with Edite on the left.
      The end of the circle (if there is such a thing) brought us to the koalas and emus. Again, the koala demonstrated that it can move slower than growing grass. What they lack in animation they make up for in cuteness. So the display was again loaded with folks cooing and ooing over these beauties. The emu, on the other hand, is the other Australian symbol. Both the kangaroo and the emu are on the coat of arms of Australia.
     After spending over three hours at the park, we headed back to the car and home to the relative comfort of our living room to sort through pictures and continue catching up on news from the states.

   Werribee Open Range Zoo

In this park, we found an impressive array of animals living in a simulated wide open savanna. They included cheetahs, cheeky monkeys at play, a pride of lions, rhinos, giraffes, zebras and hippos, among others.
     The layout of the park allowed us to walk part of it and take a bus tour of the rest. The bus takes you through each of the different paddocks representing different regions of the world and the animals that can be found there. The bus driver doubles as tour guide and gives a nice presentation of local history of the animals at the zoo, how they were acquired and some of their habits.
     The pictures below will give you a flavor of what we saw.

The bus	Mother Cape Barron Goose with chick
Male hippo	The isolated females
American bison	...with his mates
Impressive headgear	The male gazelle is protected in the middle
The meerkat on watch (there's always one)	The slackers enjoying the sun
Bulls from India	The stunning Zebra
Cheetah	Sleek and beautiful...and dangerous
Female lionesse	His Nibbs
"I want a Clark Bar"	Vervet monkeys having an academic discussion

Some of the flora can be seen below.

The Wattle Tree( Aussie National Tree- blooms in winter)	The Yellow and Green of Australia
An indigenous species	This one is rather spectacular
	Daisies
Looks like lace	The pink color comes out in the shade
The Firepoker

The Melbourne Zoo is coming.