Hi everyone my name's Aimee come and join me on a
special virtual tour of Melbourne Zoo
Thanks Aimee, it's Gus here. I'll be your virtual tour guide as we explore
Melbourne Zoo together. First stop is the Gorilla Rainforest Trail
here you'll find Ring-tailed Lemurs.
These Madagascan natives lord of the Zoo's Lemur Island,
an exhibit that zoo visitors can walk through and get nice and close to these
striking primates. Around the corner you might smell the
next animals before you see them. The Western Lowland Gorilla family that
lives at Melbourne Zoo includes Kimya, baby Kanzi, Yuska
and big silverback Otana. We might see if we can get a better view of them at the
next viewing spot.
Animals like Kanzi are not only ridiculously cute
but also represent hope for this critically endangered species
that is sadly losing more and more of its wild habitat every year.
Did you know you can help Kanzi's wild cousins by simply recycling your mobile
phone? Head to our website for more info.
Can you hear that tall bamboo swooshing as we walk past it?
It's amazing how tall bamboo grows... Ah yes here's Felix the Pygmy Hippo
enjoying some sunshine. Pygmy Hippos are pretty elusive animals
and prefer the solitary life which is why Felix is happy hanging out
on his own. He weighs roughly 275 kilograms
a lot less than the 1800 kilograms the hippos you often see in books and movies weigh!
Can you spy Zillie the Cassowary in here?
Everything from her blue neck, red wattle and hard casque on her head
make her one of the most striking animals in Australia.
Let's go and see the Treetop Apes and Monkeys now.
Tiny Cotton-top Tamarins are one of my zoo favourites
Their rockstar-haircut stands on end when they get excited
Pretty cool, huh? Sometimes it feels like their neighbours, the Black-handed Spider
Monkeys have an extra arm! These incredible climbers use their long
tails to grab hold of things and swing from branch to branch.
The first thing you'll notice when you see a Black and White Colobus
is their impressive tail which is about the same length
as the rest of their head and body put together.
Here's Li-lian and Jin the White-cheeked Gibbons.
One of the most beautiful sounds in the entire animal kingdom
is a pair of gibbons singing their duets. Did you know their long, strong arms help
them to move around the rainforest with incredible speed?
Let's head back around to the gorillas and see what they're up to on the other
side.
Welcome to Trail of the Elephants. Don't be deceived by the name,
there's much more than elephants along here. First stop is the raft of Asian
Small-clawed Otter pups. Looks like first-time parents Odie and
Paula have been giving their pups some swimming lessons.
Good luck, little ones!
I think we all know what animal is coming up next... There are three Sumatran
Tigers living at Melbourne Zoo, as solitary animals they live by
themselves. Hutan and Binjai live on this trail,
swapping exhibits every few hours to make sure they have new areas to sniff
and explore. Sadly there are estimated to be fewer
than 400 Sumatran Tigers remaining in the wild,
making these animals even more precious. Let's wander up here and see what's
further along the trail. Melbourne Zoo's beautiful and iconic
Butterfly House. Mmm it's always nice and warm in here!
I could get lost in here so we better keep moving. Here we go,
Melbourne Zoo's spectacular herd of Asian Elephants.
Ear flapping is a sign of a happy pachyderm.
Unlike African Elephants, only the male Asian Elephants have tusks
and while many people know that ivory poaching is threatening elephants in the
wild, habitat loss and humans encroaching on
elephant habitat is one of the biggest problems that
these big friends are facing in the wild. Unsustainable palm oil plantations that
are springing up across southeast Asia are a massive problem for elephants but
you can help them by asking our politicians to make palm
oil labeling mandatory in Australia.
Likewise the orangutans are facing an uncertain future due to unsustainable
practices in the palm oil industry. Like us, orangutans are Great Apes and we
actually share about 97 per cent of our DNA
which is really cool. Okay let's head out into the sunshine and see who else we
can visit.
Klintun and Nakuru the giraffes. The tallest mammals on Earth spend a lot of
their day stretching those long necks up and stripping leaves off
trees with their long, blue tongues. Alright let's go and see some Aussie
animals.
Now, we're a little biased but we think Victoria's koalas
are cuter than the ones found up north. How can you resist baby Waru's fluffy
ears, thick fur and button nose? Good morning, wombats, nice of you to join
us. Hello kangaroos. And you too, Storks.
Quick reminder from that wombat sign to do the right thing by the animals
and choose recycled toilet paper. What do we think: black with white
stripes or white with black stripes? These extraordinary stripes are unique
to every single zebra in the world, which when you think about how many
zebras there are is pretty mind-boggling.
Whoops watch out for the buggy! Here we go
these baboons are always busy and up to something.
Baboons live in hierarchical troops with the big boss baboon
having the biggest and pinkest bum and also big hair.
Everything about him is actually pretty big.
Let's scoot around here and visit Semangka the Malayan Tapir.
She's a pretty shy animal, preferring to keep to herself
but with her incredible nose and amazing black-and-white markings,
we think she might secretly be a few people's favourite animal.
Any tapir fans out there?
The Collared Peccaries are just next door to Semangka,
if you look really closely you'll notice the hair on their neck is lighter than
the rest of their body hence why they're called Collared
Peccaries. Here we go, the carnivores that live at
Lion Gorge. A lot of people walk past these dogs and
ask if they're Hyenas. These animals couldn't be further from
Hyenas if they tried! African Wild Dogs are ferocious hunters,
working as a pack to track and kill the animals they hunt.
But unlike most other hunting animals, they care for their sick,
injured, young, and elderly. I like that these carnivores have a soft side too.
Hello boys! Ndidi and Zuberi the lions are keeping a watchful eye over their
kingdom. Did you know that lions are the only big
cat that isn't solitary? This means they're the only ones that
actually like the company of others, cool huh?
Everyone loves the busy Coatis at Melbourne Zoo - always climbing, sniffing,
digging and exploring. These animals are never slacking off.
Speaking of never slacking off, new mum Miska has her paws full
raising three Snow Leopard cubs at the moment.
As they would in the wild, the trio will live with mum for about 18 to 24 months
and learn everything there is to know about being a Snow Leopard from her.
Poaching and habitat loss are threatening Snow Leopards in the wild,
it's hard to believe that anyone would want to do anything that would harm
these balls of fluff.
As we zip through cat alley please remember to keep your cat safe at home
rather than roaming the streets, this is for both their sake and the sake of wild
animals that live near your house.
And here we have Kang Ju, the father of Miska's three cubs.
As i mentioned earlier, like most big cats, Snow Leopards are solitary,
so Kang Ju doesn't play a role in raising his offspring.
But judging by that strut we'd say he's not too phased about missing out on the
joys of parenting.
I spy Indrah stalking us in the bushes. As with her relatives at Trail of the
Elephants, Indrah also prefers to live by herself
where she can lord over her territory and ambush any predators that come her
way.
Everyone should have heard of these guys before: Tasmanian Devils are the largest
carnivorous marsupials in the world, this means they're the biggest
meat-eating mammal that carries its young in a pouch on Earth.
Sadly these guys are facing a really uncertain future
with road accidents and a contagious cancer called Devil Facial Tumour Disease
threatening them in the wild but we're working hard to change their fate.
Okay let's see what else we can find up the main drive.
Hello Wilbur and Little John. The Aldabra Giant Tortoises are the oldest species
living at our zoos and while we're not 100 per cent sure how old
our ones are, they can live to be over 120 years
so these guys have plenty of life left in them still.
It looks like the keepers have put some capsicum out for them to enjoy too.
Let's go check out what's in the Reptile House today.
Between Taipans and Rattlesnakes there's a lot of animals in here that could kill
you with one swift bite. Being a reptile zoo keeper is definitely
not a job for the faint-hearted. Did you know that when the Europeans
first sent a Platypus specimen back to England to be studied
the scientists thought it was a hoax they assumed someone had stitched a
beaver and a duck together to play a trick on someone?
We're quite proud of how cool and unique Australia's animals are
Next up we've got the animals of Wild Sea. There's the pelicans and the rays
and of course the majestic seals swimming around.
Have you heard about our Marine Response Unit which rescues wild seals that have
run into trouble. If not, we recommend you Google it. That
team does some amazing work that also includes looking after the
Little Penguins that call Victoria home. Those coloured bands on their wings are
there to help keep us identify who is who.
Meanwhile we have no trouble telling the Fiordland Penguins apart
Ed and Kim were both rescued by the Marine Response Unit
and now live a happy life alongside the Little Penguins.
Look up high and you might spot Red Pandas Seba and Roshani
Can you spot something over there across the lake in the Japanese Garden
It's the Siamang family
there goes baby Kemala swinging from ropes and stealing mum's food.
There's one more animal we need to go and see... can you guess what it is?
It's the meerkats. These tiny but busy carnivores are always on the lookout for
predators and threats. The meerkat on duty is called the
sentry, it's his or her job to keep a lookout
while the others dig for food. There's nothing better than a bit of teamwork
when you're a meerkat. It looks like the keepers have been
creative and pop some treats in the bottom of this bucket of leaves.
This is called 'enrichment' and it encourages the meerkats to practice
their natural foraging behaviours. Thanks for joining me
for this virtual tour of Melbourne Zoo, we hope you enjoyed it.