Ballarat Wildlife Park

I have lived in Melbourne for 30 years and have never heard of the Ballarat Wildlife Park which is a mere 90 minutes away.  A dear friend introduced us to the Park on a recent trip and the journey was well worth the effort.

Kangaroos are a dime a dozen in this country.  You hear about them, you see them on TV, they're Qantas Airlines' iconic emblem, you visit them in the zoo, yet nothing prepared me for the up close and personal experience we were about to have.

The Ballarat Wildlife Park is essentially home to several troops of free ranging kangaroos, along with wombats, reptiles (they're not free ranging, just in case you were wondering), koalas, emus, flightless birds and other smaller animals.

The moment we entered the park we were greeted by a couple of smaller kangaroos, who were keenly searching for the food I held in my hand.  Trini wasn't sure whether she should be excited that she was hand feeding kangas or totally freak out.  Most of the day she remained in this limbo state until the much larger kangaroos (standing at 6 feet tall) was too much to bear and found herself climbing up my friend until he placed her on his shoulders (good strong shoulders there Peter).  Admittedly even I got nervous with the bigger ones and quite happily gained distance from them.

Trini comfortable feeding this little one.

The kangas are quite accustomed to people and being hand fed is as much a pass time for them as it is for the visitor.  Whilst still wild to some degree, treating them with respect means that they are unlikely to behave unexpectedly and visitors have the opportunity to share a rare experience.  I thoroughly enjoyed patting them and being amongst them.  Their fur was wonderfully soft, not quite what I expected.  They don't flinch nor take off if you approach them.  This pic of my friend's son is testimony to it.

Cuddles all round like old friends.

The rest of the highlights at the Park are the shows of 15-20 minutes each where the keepers introduced the koala, boa constrictor, wombat and alligators.  The chance to get close to the first three allows the visitor to pat and interact with both the keeper and the animal.  The alligator show was great from the other side of the glass.

Boa Constrictor

I was convinced Trini would be petrified of going anywhere near the boa constrictor.  Well look at her.  She couldn't handle the big kangas but thought the Boa was beautiful with nice smooth skin.

One of the largest snakes in the world, the Boa is not venomous but just as dangerous.  It will wait silently and patiently for its prey and then coil itself around it squeezing each time the prey takes a breath until it takes no more breaths.

Koala

This adorable looking animal is often referred to as a Koala Bear but it's actually not a bear.  Apparently its closest relative is the wombat, not that I can see any resemblance.

With its thick, plush, wooly fur the koala would be totally huggable if it weren't for its sharp claws used for climbing trees.  They also tend to smell like cough drops because eucalyptus leaves are their only source of diet.

Much as the koala is native to Australia, it can only be found in the forests on the eastern side of the country.

Wombat

This heavyweight nocturnal animal that can weigh as much as 40kg is the size of a pea weighing 1 gram when it's born.  They spend two-thirds of their lives underground often renovating old burrows that may have been dug centuries ago.

The female wombat is usually larger than the male, usually grumpier especially if she has a baby and will usually try to hog the food too.

Funnily enough when wombats fight one another, they usually try to bite each other on the bum.

Ready to scamper off and explore but the keeper had alternate plans.
Maybe another day.

Alligator Feeding

Now anyone brave enough to enter an alligator pit to feed, to play, to tease, is either crazy or dedicated.  The boys in this pit were switched on (in case the alligator had other plans for them), quick on their feet and always ready to jump clear.

The simplest way to differentiate a crocodile from an alligator is by their snout.  The croc's is long and narrow, whilst the alligator is wide and a little shorter.  Also the croc's 4th tooth on the lower jaw sticks out when the snout is closed, unlike the alligator's.  Not that I would consider getting that close to find out.

Trini was absolutely thrilled with the feeding session and the frenzy the keepers were creating for entertainment.  There was no way on earth I could pull her away from the show until it was completely finished and the alligators returned to their usual position of just laying still, looking boring.

Come just a little closer my friend. 
You look juicier than the mice you are feeding me.

My friends joke about my girl's fear of anything that moves and it's true.  She sees a cat or dog and she freaks out.  I had no idea how she would handle this wildlife park which was full of "anything that moves". 

However, with a little encouragement to be more like her latest favorite Princess Merida from the movie Brave, she summoned all her courage and did exceptionally well.  What I didn't anticipate was her fascination with a huge snake and scaly reptiles.

In the end the experience was tremendous.  The wildlife parks throughout the world generally attempt to bring awareness to the plight of animals who are hunted, become homeless due to deforestation and many are on the brink of extinction.  This park's objective is no different and whilst it is not as big as other zoos, it is different in that people can interact with the kangaroos at close range.

Thanks for visiting.  Ya'll come back again soon.

Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary

With the Melbourne Zoo off our list, Trini and I were ready to visit the second wildlife reserve in Healesville.  Opened in 1934, Healesville Sanctuary is set amongst 70+ acres of natural bushland and it's an hour's drive from Melbourne.

Home to Australia's unique wildlife, here you will find the cuddly koala bear, the hopping kangaroo, the wobbly wombat and the duck-billed platypus. 

The sanctuary welcomes the visitor with a sculpture of a wedge-tailed eagle at 3m high and with a wingspan of 7m, named Bunjil. He is known as the protector of the land, symbolising the strength and beauty of the natural world.

Trini and Bunjil getting acquianted.

Throughout the sanctuary you will encounter several bronze sculptures of animals which have been commissioned for the blind and visually impaired.  Through touch they can get an understanding of what the animals might be like in shape and size.

With prolific deforestation all over the world the Sanctuary also brings the visitor's attention to the marvellous trees that have survived the human logging and have had the opportunity to continue growing and aging.  Some trees here are 150 years old.

With a state-of-the-art hospital on the grounds, the animals and birds are in good hands.  Let me introduce you to some of Australia's iconic animals.

Koala - Sleeping 19 hours a day so as to conserve the energy needed to digest its food, this marsupial lives exclusively on eucalyptus leaves.  Spending its life in the trees it only ever descends to the ground when moving from one tree to another.  Babies are carried in the mother's pouch for 6 months and then on the mother's back for another 6 months.  Thereafter, koalas become a solitary animal.

Wombat -  A burrowing marsupial, it weighs in at about 40kg. It's the closest relative to a koala as they both have a strong build, broad paws and strong claws.  Generally solitary except during mating, young ones follow their mother for about a year.  Naturally long-lived they can thrive for up to 20 years.  Whilst not endangered, their roving habits means that they often become victims to road accidents.

Platypus - This unique duck-billed animal is quite unusual in that whilst it is a mammal feeding its young on milk and having fur, it lays soft-shelled eggs like a reptile.  Apparently the only other animal to have the same traits is the Echidna.  This nocturnal animal spends the day curled up in waterside burrows and emerges at dusk to hunt aquatic insects and yabbies.

Image: http://www.amamoorlodge.com.au/platypus-wildlife-spotting

Kangaroo - Australia's icon, this animal is part of the macropod family meaning 'big feet'.  They come in several sizes with the biggest weighing up to 85kg, whilst the smallest can weigh as little as 1kg.  The long tail aids the kangaroo to balance when stationary or when travelling at high speeds.  The baby kangaroo, known as a 'joey', is usually carried for 6-9 months in a pouch.  Kangaroos can leap 9m in one bound and travel up to 48kmh. 

Tasmanian Devil - Any Looney Tunes fan may know of the Tasmanian Devil 'Taz' who goes about spinning, grunting and eating everything in sight.  Well that's not quite the real Tassie Devil who is the size of a small dog.  Driven out of mainland Australia by the Dingo, it is now found only in the wild of Tasmania (an island State).  A scavenger, the Tassie Devil will eat anything dead regardless of how old the carcass is and will usually finish off every part of the dead animal including the bones and skull.  It is currently under threat of extinction as a mysterious cancer is decimating its population.

Dingo - Thought to have descended from wild Asian dogs, the dingo is the only native Australian dog.  It is found in many parts of Australia, except for Tasmania.  Dingoes never bark; they howl for long distance communications to attract pack members and repel rivals.  Females breed only once a year, with pups born within 9 weeks of conception.  Litters of 4-6 pups are produced.  Whilst predominantly a carnivore hunting animals such as kangaroos, the dingo will also eat plants and insects.  Interestingly, dingoes can be kept as pets in several states of Australia.  Not sure I'd want a wild dog in my backyard with my kid.

Healesville Sanctuary is a terrific place for international visitors who want to be exposed to Australian wildlife or for local visitors who are interested in animals that live in their "backyard".

With Trini living most of her young life in Singapore, I wanted her to get a feel for animals that she is unlikely to encounter anywhere else in the world or in any other zoos for that matter.

Melbourne Zoo

Melbourne Zoo is one of three wildlife reserves managed by Zoo Victoria.  Only 4km from the city centre, the zoo opened in 1862 making it the oldest zoo in Australia.  Initially established to acclimatise domestic animals imported from abroad, eight years later it was refashioned into a wildlife reserve by introducing exotic animals for public display.  Today, it houses 320 animal species.

This is Trini's second trip to Melbourne Zoo.  Her first one was two and half years ago when she was barely 18 months old.  Her love of animals has not waned and with us living in Singapore now in the last two years she has been to the Singapore Zoo at least 12 times.  A return trip to Melbourne Zoo was to be expected during our current visit to Australia and well worth it.  Trini had the opportunity to see the gorillas on this occasion (during her last visit she fell asleep and missed the chance), wild dogs, a sleeping brown bear and the adorable wombats who were also snoozing.  None of these animals are at the Singapore Zoo so they were a welcome addition to Trini's mental collage of animals.

The animals are organised in bioclimatic zones such as the gorilla in the African rainforest, the Sumatran tiger in the Asian rainforest and the koala and kangaroo in the Australian bush.  Other exhibits feature the Butterfly house, an aviary, reptile house, small cats, sea life and tree-top monkeys.

Several conservation campaigns are underway to help fight against extinction.  Many of these wonderful animals are endangered species and the Melbourne Zoo just like the Singapore Zoo are proactive in getting the word out, seeking support from corporates and the public, conservation work locally and internationally and ongoing research programs.

Since many of the well-known animals were briefly described in my Singapore Zoo blog, in this one I will concentrate on a different collection of animals.

Gorilla - Known as the silverback, the troop is usually led by a single, dominant male.  They usually live in troops of up to 20 gorillas.  Females don't associate much with each other as they usually vie for the attention of the silverback.  When the silverback wants to be heard he "stands on his hind legs and throws leaves and twigs into the air. He then beats his chest with his hands and runs back and forth tearing up the vegetation. He ends the display by beating the ground with the palms of his hands. [Zoo Victoria]"

Sumatran Tiger - Proficient swimmers, they can cross rivers that are 7-8 km wide.  Smallest of all tigers it is believed that they were isolated to Sumatra Island, Indonesia when the sea levels rose, thereby cutting them off from other land masses. They are one of nine subspecies of tiger (of which three species are already extinct).

Snow Leopard - Living high in the Asian mountains, the snow leopard is a solitary hunter.  As it inhabits cold and snowy environments, the snow leopard has developed big and furry feet that function similar to four snowshoes. Its tail is longer than other similar species as it is used to cover the nose and mouth if temperature drops too low and the tail also helps with balancing when traversing steep and sometimes icy, mountainous slopes.

Image courtesy of Monash University website

Lemurs - Endemic to Madagascar and fondly remembered as the kooky self-proclaimed "king" in Disney's flick Madagascar, the lemur is a social animal who lives in groups of up to fifteen.  To solidify relationships and ease tensions, lemurs groom socially.

Black-Capped Capuchin - Are intelligent monkeys residing in the Amazon jungle.  They are experts at leaping, climbing and swinging, are social animals and live in large groups.

Reptiles - Are neither birds nor mammals.  They are cold-blooded and in order to maintain their body temperature they need an external source, ie the sun (hence why so many of them are found lazing in the sun).  There are 8,000+ species of reptiles in the world and can be found on every continent except Antarctica.  Below is a collection found at the zoo's reptile house.

Green Iguana of Central America and the Caribbean

Fijian Crested Iguana

Philippines Crocodile, the world's rarest croc (less than 200 left)

Double-Crested Basilisk of Latin America.
Runs on water for several meters before sinking and swimming.

Frilled Lizard native to Australia

Zoo #1 of 3 complete.  Trini is looking forward to Healesville Sanctuary (aka Zoo #2 as dictated by Trini) which is home to Australian wildlife.

Illustrating a brown bear (who was sleeping
and unavailable for us at the time of our visit).

Fibreglass Elephants Celebrating Melbourne Zoo's 150th Anniversary

During this afternoon's visit to the Melbourne Zoo, Trini and I encountered a collection of life-size fibreglass elephants each with their own uniquely painted design.  Further research brought our attention to Melbourne Zoo's 150th birthday.

The Zoo's website best explains how they celebrated this momentous occasion:

Mali in the City was the flagship event of Melbourne Zoo's 150th anniversary celebrations. During this one-of-a-kind public art event, a herd of 50 artist-designed Malis were exhibited on the city's streets and later back at Melbourne Zoo.

On October 25 the entire herd went under the hammer at Auction with all monies raised from the sale of the Malis going to our zoos conservation work. The Malis have already started to leave Melbourne Zoo, on route to their new homes.

In January 2010, the "first elephant calf ever to be born at the zoo" was welcomed with much anticipation and fanfare.  Following a naming contest and 34,000 votes the baby elephant was named Mali.  The fibreglass elephant design is based on Mali.

Trini and I had the pleasure of meeting Mali in March 2010 and we are happy to report that she has grown quite a bit and is apparently due to become a big sister in November 2013.

Mali - 2 months old (March 2010)

Of the 50 artist-designed elephants only 11 remained at the zoo awaiting shipment.  A kaleidoscope of colour and design, each elephant introduced an artist and his/her vision for the elephant.

The seven elephants below were my favorites amongst the eleven still on display.

Steve Monk - Elvis as an elephant - it seems even elephants can impersonate the King.

Kevin Presley

Russ Brebner - Created from recycled and reclaimed metals.

Rusty Mali

Sally Heinrich - The sculpture is a result of a community-led project to capture the many faces of Victoria.  The Herald Sun newspaper invited its young readers to submit self-portraits, which were interpreted by the artist and then transferred onto the elephant.

Humanageric

Deborah Halpern - Mali, the paradoxical little elephant was born in captivity to represent the endangered creatures on our planet.  Mali shines light on the plight of the planet and our part in the health and well being of the animals, plants, air and water.

Mali, Protector of all Animals

Pat Minahan - The 'magic' of Melbourne is translated to Mali using a snowflake design, reflecting the imaginative world of children in a winter wonderland.

Mali's Melbourne Winter Wonderland

Vanessa Bong - Knowing that the orange-bellied parrot was one of our rarest and most endangered species, I was inspired to create a flying flock to create a pattern of overwhelming colour and brightness.

A Pattern of Orange-Bellied Parrots

Elise Martinson - Animals have been a powerful source of inspiration and symbolism for people since the cave men began making marks on stone.  Even the modern day fantasy worlds in popular culture have been heavily influenced by what occurs in nature. 

Elephantasy

So congratulations Melbourne Zoo.  We wish you all the success for the next 150 years.  You certainly provide much excitement and delight to my little girl and we look forward to many more return visits.

Trini and her little friend.

Jurong Bird Park

Following the wonderful experiences at the Singapore Zoo (4 visits to date), an outing to the Jurong Bird Park was going to be inevitable (2 visits so far).  Especially when I found out that there are 4600 birds in residence, of which 1000 are flamingos and another 1000 are lorikeets.  That still left me with vultures, eagles, toucans, hornbills, macaws, penguins, flightless birds and so on.

Can you imagine the feast my eyes and senses endured when I happened upon 92 species of some of the most amazingly coloured parrots from everywhere in the world.  The blues, the reds, the greens, gold, pale pink, purest of white.  Wow, my camera was working overtime.

For a small island, Singapore manages to have "the world's largest..." of many things and the Bird Park at 20.2ha is just such one example.  A multi-award winner, only avian hospital in Asia-Pacific and an Official Rescue Avian Centre, this park is committed to conservation, education and breeding of avians.

Here is a small collection for your perusal. 

Flamingos

Supposedly pink, although they looked quite orange to me, the flamingos habitate in saltwater lakes and lagoons, south of the North American continent and the Galapagos Islands.  Their pink plummage is a result of certain pigments found in the food they eat. 

Pink Flamingos

Lorikeets

Australasian natives, these magnificently coloured lorikeets are cheeky, noisy and bold.  My brother was tickled-pink when one of the lories befriended him.  The 3000 square metres, 9 storeys high lorry loft provides sufficient space for 1000 lorries, a suspension bridge and two-tiered central feeding tower.

My brother is making friends.

The multi-coloured lorikeets.

Macaws

Native to Central and South America, the macaws are part of the parrot family and mostly live in rainforests.  Their facial feather patterns are like fingerprints, different and unique to each bird.  They are serious chatterboxes, screeching and squawking their way through the day for fun, to mark their territory and simply to just talk to each other. 

Blue and gold macaws

My jigsaw puzzle version of the Scarlet Macaws

Parrots

Living in tropical and subtropical regions, there are 372 species.  Along with crows, magpies, jays and ravens, parrots are among the most intelligent birds, hence their ability to imitate human voices.  Monogamous breeders, they usually nest in cavities instead of building nests in trees like other birds.

Pelicans

According to fossil records the pelicans have been around for 30 million years.  In medieval Europe it was a symbol of piety. There are 8 major species of which the Dalmatian pelican has the widest wingspan at 3m and the Australian has the longest bill with a record length of 49cm.

This isn't feeding frenzy.  This is feeding madness.

Pink-backed Pelican residing in Africa & south Arabia

Dalmatian Pelican native to certain parts of Eastern Europe.
I love the scruffy head.  No brushing for this fella.

Shoebill Stork

Check out this funny looking stork with a bill shaped like a Dutch wooden clog.  Native to Africa, the shoebill has a statue-like habit whilst waiting for prey.  Surprisingly it preys on young crocodiles.  Who would have thought it could rank higher on the food chain whilst the crocs are babies.

Shoebill Stork

Toucans & Hornbills

On first sight both species appear to belong to the same family.  That is not the case.  The hornbill is a much larger bird and also has a casque on top of its bill (like a hump).  Interestingly the hornbill is the coat of arms for Malaysia's second largest state, Sarawak. 

Bar-pouched Wreathed Hornbill

Knobbed Hornbill

Bushy-crested Hornbill

Toco Toucan

Red-billed Toucan

Vultures & Eagles

Scavenging birds, they usually feed on the carcasses of dead animals. They are found on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.  The corrosiveness of the vultures stomach acid, allows the bird to safely digest toxin or bacteria infected carcasses which is usually lethal to other scavengers.

Himalayan Griffon Vulture.
Can travel 6 hours & 100 miles a day looking for food.

Steller's Sea Eagle is the world's largest sea eagle. 
Nest size is 2.4m across and 3.6m deep.

Brahminy Kite is considered a sacred bird in India and it's
the official mascot of Jakarta, Indonesia.

Changeable Hawk-Eagle

White-bellied Sea Eagle.  The largest eagle in Singapore
and extremely territorial.

African Fish Eagle

The following random photos are posted just because the birds are fascinating and colourful.

Scarlet Ibis

White-faced Tree Duck

Superb Starling

Helmeted Guinea Fowl

... and finally here's us on the monorail, enjoying the surroundings.

The Three Musketeers

I have never given birds much consideration but the visit to the park has given me a whole new appreciation and genuine joy being surrounded by such colourful creatures that roam our skies.

Highly recommended...