Australia Zoo...Crikey!

Koalas are very sleepy All the time! 

Crikey!…let’s go to the zoo! We’d heard about the Australia Zoo, owned by the late Steve Irwin of famed “Crocodile Hunter” was a short drive north of here.  The family continues to expand and improve the zoo and carry on in his quest for animal conservation.

Crocodile trainer luring the beast out of the water with meat

Young  Robert feeding his first crocodile

We happened to visit on his son Robert’s 10th birthday with the park celebrating his “first crocodile feeding”! This of course, was built up a little too much, but hey, he’s doing it…following in his father’s footsteps…its show business! So the show was filled with photographers recording this event! He’s pretty good on stage and will probably be the next TV personality.

Too much ado about ...

We watched in a large arena as the crocodile trainers lure a large reptile into striking for the dangled piece of meat! It’s awesome and scary to think these creatures live in northern Australia in murky saltwater! Part of the show is to inform about how to live safely near crocs…don’t splash in the water, it attracts crocs…well, it’s plain to say you’d be stupid dead if you went swimming in posted croc waters…then they show pictures of “Crocodile Hunter” wrestling a huge croc from the TV show Lonely Planet. Crazy.

Cute as kittens! First pair born in Australia in 43 years.

We happened also to visit the zoo a week after a tiger trainer was mauled during the show!  He's Ok, but you can imagine how packed the tiger show exhibit was when we were there…everyone wanted to see what might happen? The news said the trainer used a new kind of play costume and the tiger became in “rough play” mode. They blame the trainer. The tigers are hand fed, trained from birth, something this zoo is proud to say and not many zoos in the world have these tamed animals.

Nice kitty...

 I don’t normally like zoos, but I knew this was the only place to get to see the many exotic Australian animals up close and personal! Each species had it’s own natural habitats created with lots of space to roam. The informative trainers were available in every animal section to answer questions.

 The Kangaroo  pen is wide open for hopping about... among visitors!

Petting the roo...soft like a horse!

HOO to you, too!

Beautiful cheetah

 There was lots of opportunity to get close and interact with the animals. Yes, these are not wild animal anymore.  But the experience to pet a kangaroo and a koala bear, see baby tiger cubs up close, look into the eyes of a condor, see a Tasmanian Devil, shiver as the crocodile snaps it’s jaws… priceless for me!

Cassowary, a flightless bird like an ostrich

Guadian of the animals

December 1st is the first day of summer in the land "down under"! It's hard to think about Christmas when its 28 Celcius (82 degrees)!