2026-05-18
Rain was forecast for today, and sure enough, overnight it rained a fair bit, and continued (albeit less heavily) for a reasonable part of the day. Despite this, we breakfasted (porridge with fruit and nuts) and then set off to fuel up the car and head to the zoo.
We skipped the first part of the zoo, since we saw that yesterday and went directly to the Savanah-lands carpark since we had booked a Savanah tour at 10am. Since we had to walk past the White Rhino enclosure to get there anyway, I stopped for a couple of shots as there were more rhinos out today.
We arrived to find the sign for the tour said "Closed" but since it was the first tour of the day, we figured they just hadn't arrived to change the sign yet, and sure enough, a few minutes later we spotted the safari bus in the distance making its way towards us. By the time they arrived, we had about a 1/4 of a bus-load of people. We filled on board, found sets near open windows and we were off for a 20 min safari. Along the way we stopped to look at Eland, Zebra, Black Rhino, Scimitar-horned Oryx, Giraffe, Blackbuck and an Ostrich.
After the tour, we proceeded to the café for elevensies (which turned out to be an early lunch) and while there, were entertained by some meerkats.
We then continued along each enclosure as this was the point we stopped at yesterday. There were various quadropeds, but we also found Shore-clawed Otters.
Across the road were some Fallow Deer, and Takhi. Takhi are a Mongolian horse variety that was declared extinct in the wild in 1967, but thanks to breeding programs in zoos (incluing this one), they have been reintroduced in to the Mongolian Steppe.
Next it was off to the Lions! Most of which were "waaaaay over there" having a snooze under some trees. But we checked out the Pygmy Goats first, who weren't as small as your expect from the name, but also definitely smelled like goats. Cute though.
Further along, we went looking for the Galapagas Tortoise. There weren't outside in their enclosure, and we figured we might not see them, but then noticed an indoor section connected to the outdoor enclosures. Sure enough, four absolutely huge tortoises inside the heated building. Of course, we also grabbed a selfie with them.
The last section of the park was the Australian animal section, and of course we couldn't pass by the Tassie Devils without stopping. This time we were treated to a few big yawns which really show how wide they can open their jaws.
We also checked out the walk through enclosure with the wallabies and koalas and an emu, and reportedly Quokkas, although we couldn't find them (likewise the echidna). We also checked out the Platypus rescue (none on display, but we saw the 80 tanks that can house 65 platypus being treated before re-release where they came from. Then it was over to the Animal Hospital, which had nothing happening today, but they had an attached walk-in aviary, which to my surprise, contained at least half a dozen Regent Honeyeaters! These birds are critically endangered and thus there is a captive breeding program to improve the wild population. We've previously been lucky enough to see a couple in the wild (at quite some distance) so seeing them up close was quite a treat. And after that, back at the car, we were treated to some White-winged Choughs arguing with a second flock of them encroaching on their territory.
Tomorrow we move on to Coonabarabran where we'll check out Siding Spings Observatory, the Warrambungles and do some stargazing (weather permitting).