Fun at Australia Zoo #xlinQLD ⋆ Natatree

My choice of things to do when in Queensland was, of course, Australia Zoo. If there is a place I can go and see animals, I’ll be there. When I was young I was a HUGE fan of Steve Irwin and I think that is partially why I just love and adore all animals.

My Mum surprised me with a Private Guided Tour, which was amazing! Firstly, my Dad is unwell, so having a golf cart thingy really helped. The Zoo is situated over 100 acres! Secondly, our guide Sandi was amazing and knew all the places to be!

The Cheetahs aren’t on display but are available for an animal encounter. We were able to get a sneak peak as he was being exercised. Or well, resting! Such a gorgeous animal! I got some video footage of the cutest noises he was making. Would you like to see a video/vlog?

On the left I’m getting a hug from Marley, a 3 year old cuddly boy. You can only hold koalas in 3 Australias states, so it was a fun experience. He weighted 7.9kg and I could smell him on me the rest of the day. As he’s a boy, he has scent glands on his chest, so I walked around all day in Eau De Koala!

On the right, I’m with Ace, a 16 year old Wedge-tailed eagle. He was a beauty. I LOVE birds of prey.

Of course, being Australia Zoo, they had an amazing Crocodile show. Being in the Private Tour, we got to sit in the VIP section and had THE BEST views!

Our Crocodile for the day was Mossman, a 13ft (3.9m) salty who weighs a whopping 400kg. It was mesmerising seeing the power of them in person. My parents have been lucky enough to see them in the wild on a tour, I hope I get to see that one day.

What is this weird majestic animal you may ask, I know I did. This is a Binturong. Be sure to check out my gallery below for some more cute pictures. We got to see them whilst a keeper was in feeding so were able to see them being very active.

The tiger show was crowded but worth it! This is Hunter, a 5 y/o Sumatran Tiger who as you can see, is blind. He was born at Australia Zoo with a congenital eye condition which led to aggressive cataracts. Despite trying numerous things, he is now 100% blind. That hasn’t stopped him from anything! He still put on a show and a half!

I found it fascinating at how they’ve had to change things up with his training. They use clicker training, but as he is blind and can’t see the ball to touch, they have bells in the ball for his attention. He also obviously loves milk!

Here I am with Pigpen and Clapton (I believe). The ring//tail lemurs were adorable and all-out sunning themselves. They sure are little characters! Trying to get a photo with them was an amusing experience!

Now, I probably got way too excited when I came across this guy. By guy, I mean the python. This is Shrek, a 15 y/o Green Python. I was surprised because you don’t often see Green Pythons out and about being handled. Well, I wouldn’t expect to see one that you could get so up close and personal with. They are such a stunning animal but are known to be a bit cranky. So meeting him was one of the highlights of my day!

In the gallery below you can see me and my sister with two Kookaburras. Tok is a ‘laughing kookaburra’ and Slim is a ‘blue winged kookaburra’ and they sound so different from each other! I thought all kookaburras sounded the same, NOPE. Different species have different calls.

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