A - Z of Australia - Z is for Zoo

Last year at the end of September I went to Adelaide, in South Australia and visited their wonderful Zoo.

To tell you the truth I think the last time I had visited a Zoo was probably about 15 to 20 years ago when my kids were small. 
Even though I have been in Perth for 6 years I never visited Perth Zoo, not even when I had overseas visitors... there are so many more things to see, that I never thought to visit it.

But when I heard that the only Pandas in the Southern Hemisphere were at the Adelaide Zoo, I had to go and see them!
Pandas are a big attraction in any zoo in the world, no wonder Adelaide Zoo is so popular!

Wang Wang (Net Net) and Funi (Lucky Girl) were chosen for their genetics so that they will eventually breed. They were both born at the Panda Research Centre in Woolong, China, Wang Wang in August 2005 and Funi a year later in August 2006. Pandas can live up to the age of 25 to 30 years.
Wang Wang is very placid and laid back and loves to snooze, while Funi is very active, playful and curious.

  

The playful Funi climbing a tree

Aren't they so adorable?

Apart from the Pandas, Adelaide Zoo has lots of other wonderful animals.

I managed to spend over 5 hours walking around the zoo visiting every single animal in the zoo and zipped around the zoo to be present at the various feeding times and talks - sea lions, hippos, lions, the tiger,  pelicans, penguins... (time-table available from entrance booth).

In the Children's Zoo enclosure animals can be fed with purchased animal food, but feeding is banned in all the other areas of the zoo.

Sea Lions - show time while feeding

Meerkat enclosure

Another Meerkat stretched in the shade

Little Penguins

  

Hippopotamus Pool

Sadly, Janice the hippo had died just the week before my visit, on 12 Sept. 2012

 

Children's Zoo - Petting zoo, where little animals were kept

Children's Zoo - houses with ferrets, guinea pigs, rabbits...

The wonderful Children's Zoo area is the ideal place for the kids to enjoy a close encounter with smaller animals, who can be touched and fed. There are over 120 small animals in this area - chickens, goats, deer, kangaroos, guinea pigs, ferrets, koalas, quokkas, rabbits, sheep, wallabies.
Who wouldn't want to be a kid to experiment all of these cute animals?

Langurs with their golden child born in August 2012. Langurs are born with orange hair but become darker as they grow. Originating from South Asia.

Brazilian Tapir

Cape Barren Goose

Australian Cassowary - related to the Emu and Ostrich

A female White Cheeked Gibbon (males are dark coloured)

I also watched the Lions being fed...they scared the crowd by roaring constantly

Collared Peccary - from Central and South America - related to pigs and hippos.

Oriental small clawed Otter 

The hungry Pelicans awaiting their feed

The Flamingos - are the oldest animals in the Adelaide zoo, one arrived in 1933, the other in 1948.

The two giraffes ran around their enclosure and loved watching the car park over the wall

The giraffes seemed to me to be in a far too small enclosure, when I think that they have such huge areas to run around in Africa...

I later chatted to one of the Zoo keepers and he assured me the giraffes were happy, playful and curious, played with each other and loved to watch the car park over one of the walls of their enclosure.

There are very interesting behind the scenes tours of the Zoo, where you can pay a "handsome" fee to be able to play zoo-keeper for a day,  feed some of the animals, or learn more about the running of the zoo.

Adelaide Zoo is this month celebrating 130 years with some special events.

I was so glad I visited this zoo and quite pleased that animals were so well looked after and happy.

Have you been to a zoo lately? Did you enjoy the experience?

PS - Believed to be one of the world 's oldest flamingos- Greater, one of Adelaide Zoo's two flamingos died  today 30 January 2014 at the age of 83.