piper Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 We headed back to the zoo again yesterday, hadn't been for a while and it was a nice day for it. I start with the pandas no as they are most active in the morning. Funi was her usual gorgeous self and Wang Wang was walking around with his cheeky expression :) 1 of the tigers was up and about (makes a nice change) The meercats and ac roux around them watching their antics. I captured this shot but did not realise until I got home how he was resting his foot up like that, reminds me of how a person would stand :) We checked out the Orangs and couldn't see anything and then suddenly right in front of us the long bass moved and out popped Kluet, complete with blanket :) We even checked out the envirodome Spent ages watching the Siamangs. These aren't the best photos but I love them for what they show. You can clearly see how similar primates are to us. Having a "chat".... Out for a walk and could be kids jumping across stepping stones... And just enjoying each others company Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted December 29, 2013 Author Share Posted December 29, 2013 And for something a bit different, there is a robotic dinosaur display there at the moment. I had my big lens on so could not do these justice. I needed a wide angle lens to get anything other than head shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 1 of the tigers was up and about (makes a nice change) That tiger looks rather Bengal marked... check out the amount of white on it's eyebrows and less ruff around the cheeks... but the stripes and ears are more Sumatran. I'd love to see a pure Bengal or Siberian up close... we have a Bengal/Sumatran cross at Symbio (ex-Dreamworld tiger), and he's huge! I've found that the big cats in the zoos I visit are most active first thing in the morning (just after they've been let out of their night dens), and at the keeper talk times when they get some food. T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizabella Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Amazing shots! I especially love the ones of Kluet (I adore that boy!), the siamangs sitting together, and the seahorse. The tiger in your photo is the beautiful Kemiri. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted December 31, 2013 Author Share Posted December 31, 2013 (edited) Amazing shots! I especially love the ones of Kluet (I adore that boy!), the siamangs sitting together, and the seahorse. The tiger in your photo is the beautiful Kemiri. :) I can watch Kluet for ages. He was hidden so well in those grasses. We had been there a few minutes and had no idea that he was there. The siamangs were fascinating - just for how human those behaviours were. tdierikx - I am fairly sure she is a sumataran tiger. Grizabella can probably clarify. I am slowly getting there with knowing the animals. Quite pleased that I can pick the difference between the 2 pandas. Makes labelling my photos when I get home much easier :) Edited December 31, 2013 by piper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizabella Posted December 31, 2013 Share Posted December 31, 2013 Yes, we have Sumatran tigers at Adelaide Zoo (and I believe most tigers in Australia are Sumatran). I think they are the prettiest tiger subspecies. I'm not sure if there are any 'pure' Bengal tigers in captivity, from what I've read a lot of 'Bengal' tigers in zoos are more 'generic tigers'. It is good fun once you start getting to know a lot of the individual animals. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 (edited) Yesterday we enjoyed a members breakfast at Monarto Zoo, it was held in the main part of the cheetah enclosure and we were able to see a mum and her 3 cubs in the "dubbing exhibit". This area is usually a bus only area so they are not used to people up close and the fencing is pretty much farm fencing with some strands of electric fencing. We were asked to go no closer than 1m away and they were unsure how close the cheetah would come. We were so lucky - they cane right up to the fence and it was a case of who was watching who. After the breakfast we went for a bus ride around the rest of the zoo and were lucky enough to watch some of the lion cubs having a play under the shade of a tree. Here are some of my favourite shots. The rest are up on flickr. Edited February 17, 2014 by piper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Awesome shots piper... I'm so jealous! T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted February 17, 2014 Author Share Posted February 17, 2014 We were so lucky - the cubs were laying about 2m from the road and the bus we were on had only about 6 of us on it so it was easy to stand up and get to a good spot. The driver stopped for about 5 mins there for us. The chimps were frustrating - right at the back of the outdoor area and then when they came down they went straight inside and the indoor light is not very good. It was overcast which on the 1 hand was great as it reduced reflection but had the draw back of making it even darker in there than normal. The cheetah experience was brilliant - watched 4 of them released to their enrichment (they have a total of 10 but in various groupings as some are being weaned, a couple were hand reared as their Mum was unwell so are used for public education, a couple of boys separate as they are fairly solitary etc) in their area, after about half an hour of watching them we went and had a champagne breakfast positioned so we could sit and watch them. After breakfast we watched the keeper work with a young female who was hand reared as she was a singleton so Mum did not make milk (a singleton doesn't provide enough stimulation and in the wild would not survive). It is amazing - they really do train them like a dog. She can sit, drop, stay, come, target. And they also played with a lure with her to get her running which was magnificent to watch but so hard to photograph through the fencing and when she zigs and zags and is so erratic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 I can't wait until Symbio get cheetahs... they are so photogenic... T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 17, 2014 Share Posted February 17, 2014 Lovely pics, piper ! Cheetahhhhhhh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 I can't wait until Symbio get cheetahs... they are so photogenic... T. We have 2 more in quarantine - they have come in from Netherlands. They will replace 2 of the other boys who are heading to Halls Gap zoo. At the moment the group they have are too closely related for any further breeding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 Lovely pics, piper ! Cheetahhhhhhh I am in love. They are so athletic, graceful and gentle. Seems like a weird combination but they really are. Things like the enrichment - they are so gentle they did not damage it at all, just carefully removed the pieces of meat from it. Most other animals would have trashed it. They did say on the upside they can reuse the enrichment they give to them with other animals and it provides the added stimulation of cheetah scent. They do a fair bit of swapping items where safe and appropriate for stimulation. The hyenas had just had rhino dung unloaded in their area to give them something new and natural to investigate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Mmmmm, rhino poo ................. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I really need to win the lotto so I can go visit all the places I want to see... Monarto (and Cheetah breakfast) is definitely now on my list! T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 The breakfast is a once a year members thing. But they do have another behind the scenes encounter you can do. They also have a behind the scene lion 1. Monarto houses half of Australia's lions. There are 12 in the pride. Their enclosure is massive - larger than the entire Adelaide Zoo. All up there is something like 1000 hectares at Monarto, they don't have huge animal numbers or variety of species instead focussing on those found on the savannahs. They also do some breeding of Australian natives and rereleasing into the wild - tasmanian devils to Mariah Island in particular and a particular type of wallaby to an isolated island off of the SA coast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 To give an idea of size. This is the approximate boundary of the zoo grounds This is a photo I took in the lion enclosure of 2 cubs playing on a rock. I was on the viewing platform and this was taken zoomed in as far as I could on my 200mm lens. This is a close up of the lion enclosure, the red dot is where they were and the green dot is where I was, so as you can see not even half the distance away from me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tdierikx Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I has a 100-400mm lens... might get a little more reach... *grin* T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grizabella Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 Wow piper, your cheetah photos are stunning! I have to do one of the members' breakfasts sometime, it sounds great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted February 18, 2014 Author Share Posted February 18, 2014 I has a 100-400mm lens... might get a little more reach... *grin* T. Yes you would. I am thinking of getting a teleconverter. Not like I use the f2.8 out there.... Anyway, was just give you an idea of the size we are talking about. Not at all like your typical zoo. On the other extreme, I was only on about 100mm for the lion cubs out the bus window and at time 70mm was too close at breakfast - I have a lot of cheetah photos minus feet. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now