We're going to the zoo today

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After more than 2,000 miles on the road over the past few weeks I still have not seen any Australian wildlife. No kangaroos. No koalas. No deadly snakes or crocodiles. So today I took matters into my own hands and visited Cairns Tropical Zoo.

To get there I took one of the public buses. Trying to figure out which one was a bit of an ordeal. The hostel staff wasn’t sure, the bus company’s website was a joke, its information office was closed and the signage at the transit center was less than helpful. I finally ended up asking a driver on one of the other buses who pointed me to the right stop.

A few other people were at the bus stop who also appeared to be going to the zoo. One was a little girl, maybe four years old, who was signing to her grandparents. She appeared to be deaf. I wonder what that would be like to lose a basic sense that I’ve grown so accustomed to; though maybe in her case she never experienced sound in the first place.

My ears still had a mild discomfort from diving (or more likely snorkel diving where I probably went too deep). If something went wrong in my adventures (especially the more risk oriented ones), would I be able to deal with an everlasting physical or mental deformity? Alternatively, I know I couldn’t deal with an unadventurous lifestyle.

Her and her family were the only other people that were on the bus heading to the zoo. The trip there lasted about 35 minutes, covering numerous stops on the 22 km drive.

When we first entered the zoo we were greeted by two parrots - a blue and gold macaw named Max and a white cockatoo named Trawler. Max was napping but Trawler was happy to see us.

Shortly thereafter we all made our way into the kangaroo feeding pen where we were able to feed wallabies and kangaroos straight out of our hands. The animals were very gentle and took kindly to us.

At 9:30, a handful of people joined me in feeding three pelicans their breakfast. We put on latex gloves and threw six-inch fish into the air and they caught them like a fly ball. The pelican’s beaks opened widely and almost appeared to be more basket than beak. None could fly though since they were all at the zoo after suffering injuries, including the sole male who had been shot.

My next stop was to one of a few aviary pens; this one featuring birds of prey. As I entered through the first door, let it close and entered through a second - the system keeps the birds from flying out - I overheard laughter. At first I thought there was a parrot inside but it turned out to be a laughing kookaburra having a grand old time.

I had some time before I would join the next presentation so I went to the center of the compact zoo to the koala house. Inside numerous tourists were waiting in line to get their picture taken holding a koala as they would a small child. Dozens more could be observed in various pens, sitting on tree branches. Most were asleep or very groggy. I learned later that koalas sleep more than 22 hours a day since their diets are solely comprised of eucalyptus leaves and these offer minimal nutritional value. Also in the area were some wombats, the closest relative to koalas, though they look more like a hog than a koala.

On my way up to the free-flight birds show, I quickly stopped by another aviary pen. This one had a half dozen black cockatoos. I had come across white cockatoos on many occasions before, including one named Sula at a bird store back home, but had no idea that there were black ones, as well. These almost looked like someone took a white one then dipped it in tar. They had very little coloring except a small spattering of red and orange on their tail feathers. A pair of them were grooming one another, as parrots tend to do.

About 20 of us made our way to a small amphitheater and sat on slightly shaded benches to take in the free-flight birds show. Ryan, today’s host, warmly greeted us with great enthusiasm. During his introduction, one of the birds, a magpie I believe, flew around on cue with the assistance of some strategically placed food. The bird flew all around and over our heads at what felt like only a foot or two above us.

Then Ryan introduced Trawler, the white cockatoo that greeted us at the entrance, to the group. She was well trained, waving, bowing, nodding in agreement and even impersonating a kangaroo by bouncing up and down.

The next performer was a witch tail eagle. Ryan told us how this type eagle liked to have fun with some other animals. Out in the wild they apparently like to hover over dogs and dingoes, which irritate the canines. After having a fit for several minutes, the canines eventually calm down and begin to nap, thinking there is no real threat. As this happens, the eagle will swoop down and smack the canine on the rear and retreat back to the hovering position, sending the confused animal into a frenzy. Apparently, this is all done just for fun as they never seem to attack dogs or dingoes.

It also appears that they might like to have fun with humans. On one of the eagle’s passes, which were meant to scare the crowd by making it look like he was attacking, he slapped me on the head with one of his giant wings. At that point I realize that the birds didn’t just seem to fly close; they actually were really close to us.

After a black kite finished off the flight performance, Trawler was brought back on stage. We were informed that she would be taking donations to help the zoo’s efforts in funding local wildlife conservation efforts.

We exited the amphitheater and lo and behold there was Trawler taking coins from people and stuffing them through a small coin slot in a plexiglass box. Some of us gave her a coin directly and others, a little timid, had one of the zoo workers do it for them. Each coin made it into the box without incident.

I walked around some more, passing by some cassowaries and dingoes as I made my way down to the next program on endangered exotics. This show featured ring tailed lemurs, ostensibly like the ones in the movie Madagascar, a Nepalese red panda and several cotton topped tamarins, similar to small monkeys. All of these animals are nearly extinct so special breeding in captivity is being performed to attempt to return these animals to more sustainable levels.

The breeding process itself, not to be confused with the mechanics, of which I’m sure we’re all familiar, is quite fascinating. To eliminate chances of inbreeding, which could decimate the remaining chances for survival, there is an overlord, known as a stud bookkeeper, who tracks blood lineage and supervises which animals are selected to breed with one another. It’s almost like a more anatomically aware version of arranged marriages, though it’s not used to breed super-species; merely to avoid the ill effects of inbreeding.

It was now lunch time so I grabbed a salad at the zoo’s café before heading off to the reptile house. This is where they keep the snakes. The really poisonous and deadly ones I had heard and read about. Inside, behind viewing glass, were the various bad boys of the snake world - several types of pythons, a boa constrictor, the coastal taipan and the most venomous snake in the world, the inland taipan. I hope this glass is thick.

Following my brief look at these slitherers was a live show on them called “Snakes Alive!”. Robby, one of the zookeepers, greeted us and taught us about some of Australia’s snakes as he carefully got a coastal taipan out of a burlap sack and treaded cautiously on the stage with it. We learned that many of the snakes are very dangerous if they attack, but most will only attack if provoked. The attacks generally occur when people invade their habitat and toy with them, leaving them no alternative then to bite.

What’s more, a snake has a venom bank that it must conserve. If it bites and releases its venom into its victim it will take some time to replenish the venom. So, if a more serious threat comes along, the snake would be more vulnerable.

We also learned about what to do if you are bit by a snake. The best method is to control the release of the venom by using a compression wrap in the area of the bite. This will limit the venom’s release but will not completely cut off blood circulation like a tourniquet would.

Robby put the taipan away and then dumped three pythons out of an outdoor sized garbage can. These were much larger snakes but they seemed content to stay where they were placed. He then took out a plucked chicken and a rat (both dead). He presented each to the pythons and they carefully evaluated whether it was edible with their tongues, gaining a sense of smell and taste. One decided the chicken was suitable and snapped at it, taking it into his wide mouth. Another refused the rat while the third eventually gave it a go. They laboriously attempted to swallow them, using rows of teeth to keep the prey, had they been alive, from escaping.

The snake that didn’t eat was brought around the crowd for a petting session. A lady behind me wanted it nowhere near her so it never did make its way to me and a few others. After the show ended, a few of us in the area had a pet ourselves. It felt very scaly yet smooth and not slimy at all.

It was now time for another show, this one on koalas and wombats. At this one we all had the opportunity to pet one of the koalas. His fur was soft like a teddy bear. The wombat, another species that sleeps for the vast majority of the day, napped through the whole presentation.

Next I went to check out the third large aviary, this one with some parrots and doves. The parrots, which I was most interested in, were eclectus parrots. Uniquely, the males are a bright green while the females are a mix of red, blue and purple. Because of the vast differences in appearance, it was once thought that they were entirely separate species.

On my way to my next stop, the crocodile section, I stopped to get rid of some more of the kangaroo food I had purchased. There was a host of kangaroos napping under some trees. Most weren’t interested in eating but a few of them took down the majority of the food I had left.

The zoo has several saltwater and freshwater crocodiles, along with a few American alligators. Collectively, these are probably a highlight for many of its visitors.

Only known as saltwater crocodiles because they can withstand saltwater and not because they reside there, these are the largest and most ferocious of the lot. The so-called salties can swallow a man whole before he even has a chance to scream.

One such salty served as part of an afternoon show on crocs. Robby, the snake guy from earlier, also ran this show. From inside the pen with nothing but a stick for protection. He must be the craziest of the bunch.

Incidentally, the zoo is in the state of Queensland. As it was put by a man from Melbourne in In a Sunburned Country, the people from Queensland are “madder than cut snakes”. Robby seemed to fit this bill. As did Steve Irwin, the crocodile hunter, who was also from Queensland.

The show was among the most entertaining of the day. Robby would continually get within feet and even inches, well into the natural kill zone, of the great beast to feed him. However, he did tell us that the zoo’s pond was specially designed to reduce the speed with which the croc could get out of the water.

Towards the end, as the sun baked those of us not in the shade, Robby lured the Salty out of the water and onto land so we could get a great view of him. Again, his only protection was the stick that looked like a broom handle.

With the croc show ended, I finally got into some shade. The sun had finally come out and the temperature must have rose about 10°F in a few minutes. Under the canopy of tree cover, I headed over to see some emus. On my way back from the emus, I came across a very friendly white cockatoo that I passed and talked to several times today. I gave teaching it a try, attempting a few of the things Ramon says - “hello”, “Rrrraaaaa-moooon” and bomb droppings like those in a war movie. The bird didn’t take to it immediately but I hope somehow it starts to drive the zookeepers nuts with a newfound vocabulary.

The final show of the day was a walkabout tour where we fed some of the birds. Some of the others on the tour fed the pelicans like I did earlier, we all fed some dead mice to the birds of prey (one of the laughing kookaburras caught one I threw him), we gave the cassowaries some large pieces of fruit and the parrots what looked like fruit cocktail and a substance that looked like milk. I didn’t think to ask if it was actually milk since Amazon parrots are lactose intolerant and it would make sense that these would be too.

I had spent most of the day at the zoo and, being a bit tired, planned a quiet night in. But that never happens. Emmy, one of the hostel workers, let me know that a sister hostel was hosting a backyard barbecue which would begin in about 15 minutes. Against better judgment I accepted. As did Ernesto.

The two of us, along with two Norwegians (I think their names were Rick and Ingrid) took a short shuttle ride over to the other hostel where several others had already started drinking very cheap boxed wine and preparing the burgers, sausages and numerous sides for our feast.

While introducing ourselves to a bunch of new people (none of whom I can remember by name) I must have happened upon an ant hill. For about 10 minutes I had ants crawling all over my left foot. The food was then ready so we moved from that infested spot.

Throughout the evening, I spent a lot of time talking with Ernesto, Rick, Ingrid and a few other guys. We discussed our past, present and future travels - naturally the most popular topic among backpackers - along with the function of our governments and the politics therein. Rick and Ingrid were most interested in hearing an American’s point of view on our president and the great healthcare debate. Our political views very different and irreconcilable, we managed to have a very civil discussion about the merits and demerits of each of our countries’ social and economic stances.

In the background, an Irish guy was playing his iPod over some outdoor speakers. On came Pearl Jam. This was the first time I have heard Pearl Jam (and one of the few times rock music) outside the US, as most everything so far has been that horrid stuff known as modern dance/techno. If I have to hear that “tonight’s gonna be a good night” one more time I might suffer a brain aneurism. And that certainly wouldn’t make for a good night.

Later in the evening the entire party hopped in a shuttle back to the heart of town. We arrived at the Wool Shed where each of us received a free drink. I got a pint of Aussie beer, which was the only one I needed after drinking wine like a man starving of thirst guzzles water. I became separated from the group during a dance competition and left shortly thereafter.

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Photos

Max
Max is the zoo's sole blue and gold macaw.

Kangaroo
A kangaroo hops towards me to get some food.

Pelican
A pelican awaits her breakfast.

Black cockatoos
A pair of black cockatoos groom one another.

White cockatoo
"Trawler" takes coin donations from visitors and puts them in a box through a coin slot.

Dingo
"The dingo ate your baby."

Python
A python on top of a fence just after we finished petting him.

Koala
Taking turns petting the koala's soft fur.

Feeding a kangaroo
I'm giving him an afternoon snack.

Saltwater crocodile
A zoo worker entertains us by playing with a saltwater crocodile.

Eclectus parrot
He's very brightly colored. His female counterparts are just as vivid but are red with blue breast feathers.

BBQ
Ernesto and another guy pose for a picture during the Aussie barbecue.