Tuesday, April 14, 2009

A Great Day Out

Werribee Open Range Zoo (sorry, I can't get the link to work properly) is 30 minutes drive west of Melbourne, and is 'home' to many of the animals which require a larger habitat than is available at its parent, the Melbourne Zoo.



No, he's not one of the exhibits....lol
Meerkat posing.
Strutting emus
'Camouflagued' bus for our drive which enabled us to get closer to the animals......
......with easy access.
Although the bus stopped from time to time we didn't get out of the bus. So it wasn't always possible to get good photos through the narrowly opening windows.
Bison
Impala (I think)
African oryx
Resting camels
Zebras and oryx
Zebras and rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
African Wild Dogs
Lions
Hippo - not sure if the mudpack is a beauty treatment...lol
Time to wash it off
All clean and shiny - maybe the mudpack worked?
Cheetah
Ostrich...
....and zebra


I don't normally like zoos, although most of them these days seem to try and replicate the animals' natural habitat as much as possible. We enjoyed being able to get close and see these animals in a relaxed, natural setting.
at

5 comments:

  1. In transit4:14 am AEST

    Easy Access... for you or for the animals!?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous6:16 am AEST

    Looks like the best zoo in the country. Better than Western Plains? Finally! A zoo where the animals have room to move and behave as they should. Who ever thought of that novel concept??

    ReplyDelete
  3. Alice7:40 am AEST

    Shannon - the sides of the bus were raised and locked into place once we were on board....so easy access for us, but not the animals, thankfully.

    Tanya - I can't remember a lot about the Western Plains Zoo so I wouldn't make a comparison. They are both very good and the animals seemed well cared for and contented.

    ReplyDelete
  4. catsmum11:49 am AEST

    if you ever get a chance for a repeat visit to Werribee Open Plains, the time to aim for is early on a Saturday morning. They have [ or rather I'm assuming they still have ] a 'Photographer's Tour' which dispenses with the big old bus and takes a flat bed truck-with-seats-and-canopy which can leave the 'roads' and get right up close and personal with the animals. They stay in each location for as long as anyone on the tour wants or needs to, to get that perfect shot. We did it oh probably 5 or 6 years ago and it was time well spent. It's only a wee bit dearer than the standard tour but SO worth the extra.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Kerri12:32 pm AEST

    That does look like a great place to see the animals in a natural setting, and not cooped up.
    I love the meercat.
    Is it copying Richard's pose? :)
    I think that mudpack really worked for the hippo!
    Thanks for sharing this interesting day with us, Alice.

    ReplyDelete