CRIKEY!

(so this pic is a concrete replica of a saltwater croc, ya, about two tons in real life)
Oh man, so the zoo was a blast, just want to mention that the sun was out. lol We got off to a bit of a late start, due to the traffic around Brisbane; but still got to the zoo not long after 10. As soon as you walk through the gates there's a plethera of things to do. And their big on the education and conservation part of their jobs and promoting the animals etc. Another unusual thing is how they handle the animals. The keepers are always around the animals, handling them, becomign an everyday part of the animals lives. I mean, ya, they don't have to trank the animals like most zoos will have to for certain things, and they are able to inetereact in front of a crowd with the animals. Really neat stuff!
The Crocoseum was a huge stadium where all the shows are held. (most of them anyway). There was a good size crowd there this morning to watch the shows. It began with the snake exhibition, some of the larger and more common NON venomous snakes were brought out and explained to the crowd. Seeing them later in the reptile house and some of the larger snakes was really impressive. But here in Australia they have 11 of the top 20 most venoumous snakes, and even some of the LARGEST snakes in the world. wowza.
The sumatran tigers were out soon after the snakes. They kinda padded in like a typical cat, thinking that the world revolves around them. They just kinda checked out the crowd before turning their attention to the handlers and the treats they had. The handlers ran the cats through a few exhibitions, things that the cats would do naturally in the wild. The tiger running up the half size telephone pole to get the meat at the top was really neat to see, just the power and strength of the animal. But the way it moved, their somewhat playfull attitude and the restrained strength of the animal. Spectacular to see, a shame that they are so endangered and dying off a bit everyday. habitat clearing, but also sever poaching in the Asian world. People are fighting the good fight to save them too.
The open air flight display of the various birds was one of the best parts of the show. The various colors of the birds was spectacular. The colorfull cockattoos, red-tailed ones, the bright macaws and lorikeets. The barking owl is seldom seen, and they would fly right over teh crowd. The handlers even explained some of the characteristics and personalities of the birds. Later we were able to take a tour through the zoo's avery and see many of the same birds only feet from our faces. Lol, sometimes they would fly so low as to force us to duck on the pathway to stay beneath their outspread wings! Crystal about ended up with some bird poo on her, but the rest of us had some really close calls as well.
Ahh, but everyone comes for the croc show. The live show really helps put things in perspective. The pool in the exhibition ring wasn't very deep, only a few feet, but if it hadn't been for the water being crystal clear, you would never have known that a 4 or 5 meter croc was just below the surface. That thing was huge! and surprisingly quick. Basically, if you're within 6 feet of the river/lake bank, you can be reached and dragged in before your reflexes could do more than have you flinch. The tail walk was exciting and a little shocking to see. That's where the croc can rise out of the water almost the length of it's body to reach food that could be hanging from an overhanging bank or tree. So ya, don't dangle your legs over. not a good idea at all. Crocs can be a very dangerous animal, but it's like any animal, respect it, stay out of it's way.
As part of the show, to help pass the time between sets, they do a few ... games i suppose, challenges even. One of them had two grown men acting as gorrillas to try and get a free voucher to get a picture with an animal of their choosing. That was a hoot to see! they were kinda good at it too, must have been a discovery channel viewer. lol
But cousin Russell also got called out by the announcer. the arena was divided into two teams, and we were going to have a shouting match, the louder side would win a prize of some sort. Our seating area was kinda stuck between the two sides, and as of yet, had not been set as a side. Russell yelled down at the announcer "what about us?", and he was chosen to be a "guerilla" man, while the rest of the seating area was chosen to be a wallaby. He got pretty red at that, even redder when the wallabys won the shouting match, and the guerillas were asked to leave the stadium in jest, but Russell was again pointied out explicitly by the man with the mike. lol. He was pretty beat red. lol
Got to see a bunch of the native animals. Wombats, tasmanian devils, dingo, cassowaries, cheetahs (not native, but the zoo is expanding, from about 75 acres to 340 in a few years, with exhibits from africa, asia etc) and of course koalas and kangaroos!
The enclosures were rather natural, and with the koalas and kangaroos we were able to follow the path inside the enclosures and actually handle the animals! how cool is that? Almost every enclosure had the handler in them with the animals, talking about them, interacting with them showing off some of their natural talents for the crowd. We were pretty much on the go from the time we got their till when we left, seeing as much as we could. It was just a lot of fun, informative and exciting. They even have a few american alligators in their croc pens. In a few years, when i come back to australia (and i will) they'll have built an american waterway resembling the swamps of florida, and guests will be able to take a boat ride through to see the american gators in a natural setting. wow. lots going on.
After the zoo we went to Ettamogah Pub for a beer. But this tavern was constructed after a famous cartoon strip in Australia. The pub had a lot of the look of the cartoon, from a plane half stuck in the wall, an old chevy on the roof, the walls seemingly at odd angles, funny deco all over the wall. It was like being INSIDE the cartoon strip. Good way to cap off the day. Ok, no for pictures!