Dubbo Zoo May18 2010

 The Zoo at Dubbo had been a destination must since early this year when I was talking to some friends about wanting to go. However I was advised that it was too hot in January and the animals  would be seeking shade which would make it difficult to see them. So as we were making plans to head north from Adelaide a visit to Dubbo Zoo went to the top of the "must see " list.

 We decided that based on the information we had gleaned from the literature available  to drive our vehicle around rather than taking bikes or other forms of transport available. Once we were there we found that several exhibits were often grouped together so it was easy to park and walk to several different exhibits before moving on.

 Wild dogs sleeping in the sun

 The Zoo had a very large group of  Giraffes which were obviously doing very well as there was several youngsters in the herd. These giraffes were much lighter in colour than the giraffes that were out on the savannah exhibit mixed with other animals.

 "Big Daddy"

 Whitw rhino

Savannah  display

 African Elephant

 Sumatran Tiger

 This mother duck and her brood were spotted at the tiger exhibit and she was in a real tizz as 2 of her ducklings had found their way down to the moat on the other side of the fence and were being harrassed by some adult ducks and she was trying to get to them.  Eventually she just flew down to rescue them but that left all the ducklings up on top.  They however also found the gap in the fence that their siblings had found and all were reunited in the moat.

Pig nosed turtle also seen in the moat

 Great Horned Rhino- note single horn

 Black Gibbons

Bison

 The exhibits in this Zoo were set up in some of the cleverest ways we have seen. Although they seemed to be just across the paddock ,there were electified fences and moats surrounding them.  These couldn't be seen when looking across at them but only became noticable when you got up close.Unfortunately some were not on show as they were being updated and I have heard people complaining about still having to pay the full price when so many were offlimits. We weren't worried about it as the displays will only get better and the very small kiosk at the entrance is being upgraded to a full education centre and larger parking area etc.

 Mongolian horse

 These horses are doing very well at Dubbo to the extent that we have sent quite a few back to Mongolia to be part of a breeding program to reestablish them .

Mongolian Horse

 Guarnavo not alpaca

Superb Blue wren

Diamond Firetail

 Not a donkey but a Persian Oravango

 We had a lovely day at the Zoo but were very tired when we got home. Lynn really found all the walking very tiring. We would certainly recommend others to go .  The entry fee entitles you to 2 days of admission so it is probably best to go for a shorter time over 2 days.