Melbourne Zoo

This year, Melbourne Zoo is celebrating its 150 year anniversary at Royal Park. It is proud to be one of the most established and best known city zoos in the world. It is just one of the many zoos in Victoria. As the zoo celebrates a milestone this year, it is also fitting for me to recapture my first experience here when I came in Melbourne in 2009. I am sharing with you pictures of my experience in the zoo. For more information about the zoo, ticket fees and other inquiries, you can visit their website. Hope my photos give you a glimpse of the zoo.

Otter

 I like taking photos of birds! 

 Pelicans and the turtles!

Australian pelicans are large, black and white birds with massive pouched bills. The bird’s pouch is used mainly as a ‘scoop net’ for catching small fish and shrimps, rarely for carrying them. The pouch is also used for catching rain. The total pouch capacity is seven liters.

 Butterfly sanctuary

 Mommy and baby elephant

 I suppose this is Dad Elephant. :-)

 Miniatures

Long-necked giraffes!

Of course, the ostrich stays with the giraffe! 

Although rarely heard, Giraffes can moo, hiss, roar and whistle to communicate with one another. Amazing!

Now let us start the debate. Is the zebra a black horse with white stripes or a white horse with black stripes?

 Bongo

 Baboons

 Lovely bush flowers

 Meerkat

Meerkats are a type of Mongoose. The English translation is marsh cat, although Meerkats don't live near marshes and they are not cats.

 Hunky kangaroos

On the Australian coat of arms the Emu and the Kangaroo were selected as symbols of Australia to represent the country progress because they are always moving forward and never move backwards.
Kangaroos are the largest marsupial mammals. They belong to the  Macropodidae family. Kangaroos are not endemic to Australia, several species of tree kangaroos and forest wallabies also live in Papua New Guinea.

The emu is the largest bird in Australia, and the second largest in the world after the ostrich.Emus are found only in Australia.

One colorful duck

Koalas are not bears. They are MARSUPIALS, which means that they carry their young in a pouch.Koalas have two thumbs on their front paws - to help them climb, to hold onto the tree and to grip their food.Koalas are NOCTURNAL animals. This means that they sleep in the daytime, and move around and feed at night.

Koalas aren't bears. The koala is related to the kangaroo and the wombat. The koala is a mammal. The reason the koala is called a koala bear is because the koala looks like a cute teddy bear.

Ant eater

I was not able to take pictures of the penguins in Phillip Island because flash photography is not allowed. In Melbourne Museum, I got another chance to be up close with these cute but very diligent creatures.Penguins eyes are specialised for seeing underwater and on land in low light. For this reason they are highly sensitive to sudden bright light such as camera flashes

A penguin can stay at sea for weeks, diving for fish, yet its waterproof feathers keep its skin absolutely dry. It can actually sleep at sea, dozing as it floats on the surface.

The penguins in Australia are the smallest in the world (only 33 cm tall). Penguins are found only in the southern hemisphere so you will never see a penguin and a Polar Bear together in the wild!

The Little Blue Penguin is one quite small compared to other species. In fact, it is due to this small size that it is also referred to as the Fairy Penguin. It is the smallest of all the penguins in the world. It can weigh up to 2 pounds and it would be taller than 16 inches. They have a deep blue coloring to them which is why they have been named the Little Blue Penguin. This blue color is on top of their head and all down their back side. The front is white.

The Penguin Parade is one enchanting experience! Visit their website for more information.