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Published: September 18th 2015
Western Plains Zoo Wildlife Encounter
Georgi pretends to be as savage as the Sumatran Tiger, Sakti.We were still worrying about the broken aerial and so we decided to drive all the way in to Dubbo next morning and see if we could get it repaired. We tried a few places without luck, but then hit on an auto electrician who also did two way radio installs and he was confident he could do the job. You'll need to leave it with me for a couple of hours at least he said, so we walked into the city centre and had lunch and discussed what else we might do while we were waiting for the work to be done. The phone rang just then and the sparky was finished! Excellent work and then we needed to find somewhere to stay (we had selected a free camp site for the night but we had passed that on the way in to town).
After a couple of phone calls, we were lucky to get the last remaining site at one of the local caravan parks. Things were starting to get busier as school holidays approached.
The next day we drove the few kilometres just out of Dubbo to the Western Plains Zoo. This was created as Taronga's
(closed to the public) breeding zoo back in the 1970's but was opened to the public shortly after. It has a very successful breeding program, and focusses on vulnerable and endangered species. After sorting out our entry arrangements, we headed up the hill to get advice on how to get around the six kilometres of trails within the zoo compound. Our entry package included bike hire and we thought about upgrading to a golf cart until the hiring guy explained we could drive our bus around. You'll have no problems he said, we have full size buses in here all the time. That suited us.
In the morning we checked out the rhinoes, elephants, lemurs and other apes, giraffes, zebras and otters.
I had explained to Georgi that we could check out the animals until 2pm and then we needed to book in to our accommodation which was on-site. I hinted to her that we might be staying in a tent at the Billabong Camp, so she was surprised when we drove out of the zoo and around the back to the savannah where we were greeted by the Zoofari staff and shown to our luxury tent (complete
with air con, king size bed and double bath). After unpacking and a quick shower it was off to the lodge for wine sampling and canapes before we headed off on our own special guided behind-the-scenes tour. This was a fabulous part of the package that allows zoofari guests to get much closer to the animals. First off, we fed the black rhino and then we headed back in to the zoo to say hello and feed the meerkats, hippos and white rhino. After that we drove around the savannah before feeding carrots to the giraffes (a highlight) and then returning to the lodge for an african feast.
Most of us headed off to our tents early and we heard the lions roaring in the middle of the night. Their roaring carries a long way when it is still and quiet. The next morning, we did an early before-breakfast tour visiting more animals before finishing with a close inspection of the elephant shed and talking to the keepers about how they manage the huge beasts.
After our cooked breakfast we travelled back to the zoo in our bus and visited more animals before our appointment with Sakti, the
Western Plains Zoo
Cuddles, the African Elephant with coconut palm in her trunk before splitting four year old male Sumatran Tiger and his keeper, Mel. We had the rules of engagement explained and then Mel showed us how to feed Sakti safely. Although the Sumatran Tiger is the smallest of all tigers, it still stands almost as tall as us when it leans on the fence demanding to be fed. This cat does not purr! After feeding Sakti, we were able to go out the back and meet Indah, an eight year old female Sumatran Tiger that had been hand reared. Indah is more like a large cat (well not really). Saty is the other male Sumatran Tiger that Mel looks after. Thanks Mel for the experience.
Zoos are at the forefront of conservation, saving species from near extinction and providing support to local and overseas communities. They do a fabulous job with limited resources. We were very pleased to help them out (and have a fabulous experience at the same time). If you like animals and get the chance, try it.
After we had completed the second tour of the zoo (and ticked off all the animals), we drove back into town and had lunch and then headed south to Wellington.
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