Wellington Zoo
We went to the zoo today!!!
First we went to a show about the kiwi bird. They explained how the kiwi was endangered but breeding programs are being successful in building the population back up. Kiwi are usually awake at night and sleep during the day so they usually don't like light, but this particular kiwi doesn't mind it. He was found in the bush with his leg in a hunter's trap, and had to have the leg amputated. The doctors tried to give him a prosthetic leg so that he could continue to live like other kiwi. But it involved many operations to try to get the leg to work, and eventually it didn't, but by that time, he was so used to the light that he doesn't mind it now. He was a bit shy when we went to see him today though.
After the kiwi show we looked around the zoo. We saw lions and giraffes! Then we found this statue of a hippo, which is much smaller than the real thing I must say. But they don't have elephants or hippos here because the environment is not suitable for them - the zoo is built on quite hilly ground and space is limited. So unlike Ueno Zoo, they don't want to cram large animals into small cages.
A highlight was the chimpanzee house. The monkeys liked all the attention and were leaping around and screaming! This one chimp came over to the window to say hello to me.
There is a box near the window from which the chimp can get some food. He pokes his stick into the holes on the lid of the box to get the food - its some kind of paste. There was another bigger chimp sitting on a tree branch, and was pooing into his hand, and then eating it like a hot dog. Mummy and Daddy went very pale and looked horrified, which I found very funny. I mean, what's wrong with it anyway? Isn't it efficient? A renewable resource?
First we went to a show about the kiwi bird. They explained how the kiwi was endangered but breeding programs are being successful in building the population back up. Kiwi are usually awake at night and sleep during the day so they usually don't like light, but this particular kiwi doesn't mind it. He was found in the bush with his leg in a hunter's trap, and had to have the leg amputated. The doctors tried to give him a prosthetic leg so that he could continue to live like other kiwi. But it involved many operations to try to get the leg to work, and eventually it didn't, but by that time, he was so used to the light that he doesn't mind it now. He was a bit shy when we went to see him today though.
After the kiwi show we looked around the zoo. We saw lions and giraffes! Then we found this statue of a hippo, which is much smaller than the real thing I must say. But they don't have elephants or hippos here because the environment is not suitable for them - the zoo is built on quite hilly ground and space is limited. So unlike Ueno Zoo, they don't want to cram large animals into small cages.
A highlight was the chimpanzee house. The monkeys liked all the attention and were leaping around and screaming! This one chimp came over to the window to say hello to me.
There is a box near the window from which the chimp can get some food. He pokes his stick into the holes on the lid of the box to get the food - its some kind of paste. There was another bigger chimp sitting on a tree branch, and was pooing into his hand, and then eating it like a hot dog. Mummy and Daddy went very pale and looked horrified, which I found very funny. I mean, what's wrong with it anyway? Isn't it efficient? A renewable resource?
posted by nihonshu at 9:40 PM
