Tag: Zoo

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A trip to Melbourne Zoo (23 December 2017)

Once again we headed into Melbourne Zoo in the hope of capturing some good photos on the new Carnivore’s Trail. As usual we arrived prior to the gates opening and queued up with other keen visitors. Once inside our first port of call was, naturally, to try and photograph the snow leopards. The animals, like us, are still getting used to the new enclosures and for some, including two of the snow leopards, still adjusting to smells, sights and sounds of Melbourne Zoo. Seeing little evidence of any movement in the snow leopard enclosure, we moved on with the intention of returning later in the day.

A little further down the trail is the fantastic new Sumatran Tiger enclosure. Here we eventually noticed Indrah hiding out in the back among the foliage showing how well she can camouflage herself.

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A trip to Melbourne Zoo (21 December 2017)

After many months of waiting, Zoos Victoria’s Carnivore’s Trail finally opened to the public on 19 December, but with high temperatures and thunderstorms forecast for the day, we decided to miss the opening and wait for more favourable weather. Attending the opening of Kangaroo Country the next day (20 December) was already scheduled, so we had to wait for Thursday 21 December to visit. Thankfully, the weather was suitably pleasant and things looked good for checking out Carnivore’s Trail.

As usual we arrived just prior to the gates opening. Once inside, we headed straight for Lion Gorge and the start of the Carnivore’s Trail. This magnificent new addition to Melbourne Zoo includes an incredible enclosure for the rare and vulnerable Snow Leopards. The photo below, made from 50 individual photos, is just one of the superb one-way viewing windows into their enclosure. The one-way glass in the viewing windows allows visitors to look into the enclosure without disturbing these beautiful cats.

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A trip to Melbourne Zoo (26 November 2017)

After a wonderful morning at Werribee Zoo the previous day we had decided on a quick trip to Melbourne Zoo before heading off to a family lunch, despite the forecast predicting heavy rains. Indeed, we often like to visit the zoo when the forecast is for inclement weather as the crowds tend to be smaller and we therefore tend to get better photos of the animals. Plus, we often find the animals tend to be more relaxed and demonstrative, for example, as we passed the gorilla exhibit that was in the process of being cleaned, we could hear the piercing call of the white-cheeked gibbons as they called to one another.

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A trip to Werribee Open Range Zoo (25 November 2017)

Zoos Victoria had announced that the four lion cubs, two males and two females, who were born to second-time mum Nilo at Werribee Open Range Zoo on August 12, had now been named and would be on limited display as they still needed long rest periods like all young cubs (and kids). Having been advised that the best viewing times to see Asali, Ilola, Ato and Lwazi were before 10.30am, we headed down to Werribee early and arrived even before the gates opened thanks to some lighter than usual traffic.

Once the gates opened and our membership cards had been scanned, we made our way towards the lion enclosure in the hope of securing a good viewing spot. When we arrived, the keepers were still cleaning the interior glass and setting up food and enrichment for the lions, but we could hear the male lion roaring, clearly impatient for his breakfast. Watching the keepers placing these huge rib bones out for the lions gave us the opportunity to determine the probable best positions for good photos and to set up a third camera to record a bit of video while the magpies tried to steal a bit of meat off the waiting bones.

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By the time things were all set, there were only about six of us at the enclosure and we were not disappointed when the pride came out of their night dens.

The big male lion immediately claimed a huge rack of ribs and headed off to the shade to eat.

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