Reptiles - Snakes, Monitors, Dragons, Lizards, Alligators, Crocodiles Saltwater & Freshwater
Birds - Cassowaries, Cockatoos, Raptors, Parrots, Emus, Brolgas, Pelicans, Water birds, Finches and many more.
Mammals - +Koalas , Wombats, Kangaroos, Macropods - Eastern Grey, Pademelons, Cotton Top Tamarins, +Red Pandas , Lemurs, Dingoes and many more.
My daughter and I decided to check out their latest experience called Zootastic 5. This is a brand new experience that allows groups of no bigger then 4 people get a personalised behind the scene interactive tour where you get to feed, pat, hold and get a photo with 5 of the most popular animals in the zoo.
This is how our day went:
We arrived at the zoo at 9:00 am and were greeted by the very friendly staff on the front desk where they gave us our program for the day. We had to meet our handler at 9:30am so we decided to check out the animals that were close to our meeting point. We didn't make it very far as we found Trawler the Cockatoo he was very happy to have a chat with us but be warned he swears and curses as he was given to the zoo by a fisherman who had him on the boat but he kept eating all of the electric wires so they had to give him away to a good home.
Trawler the Cockatoo
After we had finished having a laugh with Trawler we were greeted by Alex our guide for the morning. We wasted no time in heading to our first attraction the Lemurs. We were allowed to go in to there pen and hand feed them some grapes and corn on the cob. The Lemurs were very happy to see us (by us I mean the food) and came straight over to us and started taking the food out of our hands. These animals have to be some of the cutest primates on the planet with there big eyes and funny little hands.
Maddi and I feeding the Lemurs
When we had finished with the Lemurs we moved on to the next attractions feeding a Cassowary. Cassowaries are one of the largest flightless birds on the planet they stand between 1.5 and 1.8 metres tall (5-6 feet) and can weigh up to 60 kilograms (130 pounds) and have a middle toe that is about 12.5 centimetres (5 inches) long and is used to defend themselves. There have even been human deaths reported from the Cassowary disemboweling them with this claw. But as scary as they sound they are a beautiful animal that plays a very important part in our rainforest ecosystem. Cassowaries feed on the fruits of several hundred rainforest species and usually pass viable seeds in large dense scats. They are known to disperse seeds over distances greater than a kilometre, and thus play an important role in the ecosystem. Germination rates for some rare rainforest seeds are found to be much higher after passing through a cassowary's gut (92% versus 4%).
Feeding the Cassowary some grapes
Next was my favourite part of the day the Crocodiles!! Alex first took us to see some Alligators and explained the difference between Alligators and Crocodiles. Main difference is that Alligators do not posses the gland that helps them excrete salt from their bodies. Which means Crocodiles can live in both fresh and salt water where as Alligators can not. Not to mention the big difference in temperament Crocodiles grow much bigger and are much more aggressive. We were allow to hold a baby Alligator before Alex went in to the cage and fed Sultan a 5.5 metre (18 foot) male before we had a go at feeding him from a pole.
Maddi about to hold the Alligator
Note how hard to it is to see Sultan in the water. He is one big lizard!!
While on reptiles our next visit was with a giant 4.5 metre (15 foot) python. Now I will let you know I am terrified of snakes so the whole time the guys were bringing this big guy out I was getting paler and paler so I wasn't really listening to what Alex was saying about this guy but I will find out more and up date later on.
Big snake funny thing is they are not slimy like I expected
Next was Maddis' favourite part of the day the Koalas. Probably one of the laziest animals I have ever seen +Koalas rest motionless for around 16-18 hours a day sleeping most of that time. They spend 3 of the remaining 6 hours eating. Great life if you ask me. We got to hold the Koala and have a picture with him.
Maddi and I with one of Australia's Icons
Last but not least we went in to the bird aviary to feed some of the local birds. The Cairns Tropical Zoo would have to have one of the biggest collection of native Australian birds in the world and some of most beautiful ones as well.
Maddi feeding the Rainbow Lorikeets
Map of the Zoo and the attractions
The Zootastic 5 experience lasted for approx 1 1/2 hours, when we were finished we were left to explore the rest of the Zoo and check out the other animal shows that were on offer through out the day. Thank you so much Alex our guide for the day his experience and love for the +Animals really showed through out the day.
Report Card
This experience is suited for anybody young or old. It is a really great way to see some of the coolest animals in the world up close and personal. It is great value for money as entry to the Zoo for the rest of the day is included in your price and compared to other animal experiences in Australia it is quite cheap. There is a small amount of walking through out the day but nothing to strenuous. The park has all of the amenities you could need with a licensed restaurant, plenty of toilets and even a chapel if you want to share your special day with some of the animals.
Prices:
Zootastic 5
Adult or Child - $125 self drive to the Zoo
Adult of Child - $150 with return transfers from Cairns
Cairns Tropical Zoo Entry
Adult - $33
Child - $16.50
If you would like to experience Zootastic Contact me here
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