Marsupials at Taronga Zoo

Monday, 15 June

Eitan and I went to the Taronga zoo today, along with our friend Kara.  At ticketing we met Wendy, the volunteer who would be our Australian walkabout guide for the next 2 or 3 hours.   

Taronga is a large zoo, so we focused on marsupials and other Australian fauna for the day.  Each marsupial species has its own way of gestating offspring beyond the placenta.  Some mothers keep them in pouches (that face up or down), while others curl their bodies around their young. 

The koala lives on choice eucalyptus leaves, and sleeps 20 hours a day.  It is a marsupial, not a bear (as Wendy reminds us).  They like to nestle up in trees, gripping tightly with two thumbs on each hand. 

Perhaps the most exotic marsupial we saw was the platypus.  Duck-billed, egg-laying, otter-footed, beaver-tailed -- and really fast in water.  Several of these Australian beauties frolicked up close. 

Two wallabies greeted us when we entered the open kangaroo area.  We stayed along the path, as the animals scampered about the grounds.   

There were lots of friendly kangaroo playing together.  Kangaroo mothers nursing joeys, sunbathing, and gathering in groups.  Here are three different macropod (i.e., "large foot") species enjoying their lunch together. 

A kangaroo mother can nurse a tiny joey jellybean, along with its older sibling on the other nipple, and simultaneously procreate a third.  Kangaroo are fruitful and multiply down under.  Here we see Eitan petting two joeys.  They have very soft fur. 

The echidna is a small spiny marsupial.  An egg-hatched anteater puggle spends little time in its mother's pouch.  But in nocturnal darkness and afternoon light, an echidna lots of charm. 

There are many Australian birds, and we saw many here.  No blog room for all the photos and stories.  The largest was the cassowary, who looks and walks like a relic of the dinosaur past.  Stumping about on two thick legs, with a colorful crest (but no arms), this ancient bird and its mate rule the roost here in their little zoo kingdom. 

The floral clock garden says it's time to go …

so we say goodbye to Wendy …

and Taronga, and begin our next journey -- up to Cairns.