Around Melbourne, 1st May 2005

Got up late and decided to shelf the plans to go on the Great Ocean Road trip.

Instead, I visited the Melbourne Zoo.

Meerkats


Penguins

"Penguins are ideally shaped for swimming. They have torpedo-like bodies and small, stiff wings which they use like flippers to fly through the water, steering with their legs and tail. Penguins spend a lot of time preening their feathers to keep them well oiled and waterproof.

In the late afternoon, Little Penguins gather at the sea in groups (or rafts) of up to 300, breaking into smaller groups as they near the shore. They usually come ashore in the same place each night and take the same path back to their burrows." - taken from zoo signboard.


The japanese garden.


There are the seals with a few tricks up their flippers...but didn't get any good photos of those cause they were just moving too quickly.


And the resident zoo polar bear...waking up to see what the fuss is all about.



MANED WOLF
Chrysocyon brachyurus
These wild South American wild dogs look like wolves with their mane of hair across the shoulders. They hunt in the tall prairie grass on their long, stilt-like legs for small mammals. They also eat fruit and insects. Although solitary, they seek a mate to raise a litter of 2 - 5 pups. Their habitat is being lost to farming and they are classified as vulnerable.


...more photos to come later.