Australia Zoo

May 3, 2010

I can't believe we got to go to the Australia zoo! It is somewhere I've wanted to go for quite sometime. I leaned a lot more about it when Steve Irwin passed away. So here is a little info for those who don't know about the zoo or the Irwin family. The Australian Zoo was started by Steve Irwin's parents. The zoo started very small as a place to bring animals that the Irwin family rescued on their family adventures. Steve is famous for his show The Crocodile Hunter. A show that featured crazy Steve capturing crocodiles and saying CRICKY! He would catch crocs that were causing problems in areas. He saved the crocs lives because they would have just been killed. Steve was nine years old when he pounced his first croc!

The zoo raises not only money for but awareness about these wonderful animals and what we need to do to save them.

Ezra ready for a fun!

Our family with a statue of the Irwins.

When you first walk into the zoo they have animal handlers with animals you can touch. Ezra really liked the baby alligator!

He liked him a little TOO much!

As Ezra was patting ( that's what they call petting) the alligator he decided to squish his tummy. Do you like the reaction on my face? I sure hope Ezra learns how to be "soft" before the babies come!!!

So crocodiles that could eat Ezra in one bite he loved but a man in a crocodile suit FREAKED him out!

Feeding the kangaroos was AMAZING! You are walking around in their habitat and you can walk up and pat of or feed any of them. The nice thing is that the kangaroos can go into "no touch" areas if they want a break. I think that is so great! As you can tell there were plenty of kangaroos out for us to play with!

On a bad day this might not sound like a bad option......Ha ha ha!

We all got a chance to feed the elephants.

Ezra was amazed by the bird show at the crocasium.

If you keep a croc in a cage and just throw in food they would die because they wouldn't get to use their instincts. At the zoo they make them work for their food. It keeps the crocs happy and it's fun to watch! The Crocodile Hunter car is one of Steve's old cars.

Ezra is signing bird.

After all the animals were feed it was time to feed the people.

Ezra liked smooshing his face on the stroller canopy. He looked like a little spaceman.

Daddy and Ezra with the Red Pandas

Most people refer to Koalas as koala bears but they are not bears they are marsupials. Marsupial young are born immature and they develop further in the safety their mother's pouch.

Sweet baby!

When we found out we would be going to Australia I knew one thing I wanted to do for sure, and that was.....

hold a KOALA!!!
Look at my face..... I was SO excited!

They are so soft, kind of like a bunny.

These tigers are some that the zoo is trying to save. The handlers are using milk to get them to show off. Something that is very apparent at the zoo is how much they truly love and respect these animals. They really work with them a lot! The Australia Zoo is the only place in the world where handlers can get blood samples from the tigers without it being sedated. That is amazing! Not something I want to try, but amazing. Another example of love was with the Tasmanian devils. As we were getting ready to leave the zoo we saw a worker going into the Tasmanian devil habitat. She said each day, morning and night, they are cuddled. There she sat cuddling a little devil!

More kangaroos

This crocs name is Casper because he is white. He is not a albino. Albinos lack pigment in their skin Casper lacks only black pigment-he is called leusistic.

CRIKEY!