• After a tremendous thunderstorm the night before and a nice meal at a Thai restaurant, we drove 2 hours the next morning to get to the Australia Zoo made famous by the exuberant Steve Irwin. Steve was known as the Crocodile Hunter and had a wonderful series on TV showing him capturing anything from poisonous snakes to vicious crocodiles. His famous phrase was "crikey". Steve's enthusiasm and charisma were wonderful and he was a great promoter for saving the animal planet. He married an American women, Terri and they became parents of two children, Bindi and Robert. Steve unfortunately died in 2010 after being struck in the heart by a stingray's barb.

                                 Above is a photo of Steve which greets you as you enter his zoo.

The first exhibit you see as you enter the zoo is the Giant Tortoise pen. It happened to be feeding time so we got to watch the handler's feed the animals. I really liked the way they affectionately patted the animals.

Next, came a statue of Steve and his family - his wife Terri, daughter Bindi and son Robert.

Again, we were lucky as the keepers were feeding the otters when we arrived at their habitat.

                                  I thought their front feet were interesting with their webbed toes.

The next few photos are of a blind tiger and his handler. The tiger was born with severe cataracts and surgery could not correct the problem so his eyes were removed and prosthesis inplanted.

He was able to get around his cage without any problems and bumping into objects.

                                                A red panda (not related to pandas at all).

The above is a photo (not mine obviously) of a baby koala showing how small it is at a few weeks old.

No blog would be complete without a bird photo, would it?

We were lucky enough to see a huge crocodile being fed. I do not think I would liked to have been the young man feeding the croc.

                                                                       A kookaburra

I thought you might be interested to read some info about kangaroos and see the height of an adult male kangaroo compared to Gary (an adult male homo sapien!!!).

The lemurs were cute with their long striped tails.

In the following photo it looks as though Gary is talking to the lady with the cockatoo when in fact he was just passing her.

More tiger photos, this time of a sighted male. I just love the way the handler affectionately cuddles the huge cat.

A nineteen week old tiger cub. It was lovely to see how it played with its handler and objects that were thrown to it, just like a pet kitten.

The following photos shows a handler getting the lion to do various "tricks" by tempting it with a carton of milk. This surprised me as you are not supposed to  give cats milk because it causes digestive problems.

The above photo shows the cat being tempted with milk when in fact the real purpose is to examine the cat's teeth.

Like all cats, tigers like to jump and climb. This one was no exception. What was interesting was that the cat handlers walk the cats around the zoo early in the morning. That must be a sight to see,

A closeup of an emu (not an ostrich!!!).

The above little girl was very patient in trying to get the kangaroo to eat from her hand. Her patience was rewarded.

                                 

                                    A curlew.                                    

                                                    I am not sure what the above bird is.

I love owls. They have always fascinated me with their stealth and hunting techniques.

A wombat.

A white crocodile.

A cassowary.

Dingos. It is hard to believe they can be quite ferocious.

A Tasmanian Devil.

                                                      My, what lovely teeth you have.

Well, that just about sums up our day at the Australia Zoo. Thank you Steve Irwin for saving all these creatures and for your love of animals. Your legacy will live on.