CRIKEY! i <3 steve irwin!

the australia zoo is owned and operated by steve irwin and co... but interesting, it was owned by his parents before him. in the family - that is cool.

the place is small but expanding, but a fun place to visit. they have lots of ways that you can interact with the animals - and mostly for free. they have random folks walking around with animals, they take the wombats for walks with leashes (i LOVE wombats and i watched them, the girl walked right to the door and kind of hopped around until her leash was on and then as soon as the gate was open she started off. the keepers let them walk wherever they feel like it and when they get tired they put them in a buggy and wheel them back - what a life!), the elephants go for walks and you can feed them fruit, there are places to pat the koalas, and a place where you can feed and pet the roos.


the other thing they have going for them is that the signs are hilarious! they are written in such a way that is enertaining, informative, and makes you want to read them - even as an adult. the first thing they tell you is the animal's name and something silly about them to hook you and then facts. i laughed as kids raced around going mum mum! this one's name is alice - did you know she lays 40 eggs adn guards them ferociosuly? i was really impresed with the signage for some things, and it was absent at other animals.

plus they have all these great photos of steve irwin you can pose with - crikey! and they have a very large area set aside in memoriam with photos of him working, articles that were written about him, and a very large diaplay of tributes and messages that people have left in honor of steve. it was all very warm and fuzzy. steve irwin day is november 15th!

so back to wombats - i love them. they are closely related to koalas - so they look a little similar, except wombats burrow in the ground and walk around. both koala and wombats have cartilage plates in their butts. wombats use it to back into their enemies trying to get them in their burrows and use their butts to crush their enemies heads against the sides of the burrows. awesome! the wombats are very affectionate and like to petted and scratched - and they even crawl into their keepers laps for a snuggle. i want one!

you can see more photos from day at the aussie zoo HERE (brisbane folder)