Australia Zoo - Crikey!

As we are in Brisbane we had to see the legendary 'Australia Zoo - Home of the Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin'. Its about an hours drive from Brisbane to Steve Irwin Way, Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast.

On arrival we were given a map on the zoo, its a pretty big place and a 'Crocs Rule' badge, which you can see I am stylish wearing on my shorts in the above photograph! The memory and legend of Steve Irwin certainly lives on in Australia Zoo. As you enter the zoo you are greeted by a statue of the Irwin family - photograph below. 

The Irwin family.

There are lots of different shows to choose from, from tortoises to elephant feeding, however we really wanted to see what Australia Zoo is famous for - the crocs at the Crocoseum! 

'Never smile at a crocodile...'

Don't worry, he's stuffed! 

      

                                He's a real alligator!

 In an earlier post when we were in the rainforest in Cairns I discussed the Cassowary. Fortunately we didnt encounter any in the wild, but we did see some in Australia zoo. We were told in Cairns that they can run very fast and if we encounter one to remain very still and not to try and run away as it would attack. We actually saw the Cassowary in the photograph below chase after a wild turkey and they can run extremely fast and give a mean kick and have very sharp 'Dagger like' claws.
The 'Helmet' or the bone on top of its head is to protect its head as it makes it way through the rainforest.

Not wanting to give them to bad a reputation I must add that the Cassowary is an endangered species. They are under threat from destruction of the rainforest, cars, dogs and starvation. Its diet mainly consists of fruit that is picked off the floor of the rainforest and the seeds that the bird secretes are undamaged, so the cassowary plays a vital part in the dispersion of rainforest seeds.  

A sleepy Koala. They really do smell like Eucalyptus-Cough sweets, but are so cute.  

Jamie was quite taken with the piglets at the mini zoo. 

 There is an entire section devoted to Steve Irwin and the Irwin family. Family photographs, newspaper articles detailing his career and his sudden death.

     

A large section is devoted to messages that people sent to the Irwin family after Steve died. There were messages from all over the world, even a Welsh flag in there! There were also lots of the legendary khaki shirts signed with tributes and messages along another wall. 

The Croc show at the Crocoseum. 

It all began with some very impressive birds!

Then the croc......

       

     

     

A stuffed barracuda head - yuck, was on display with a number of other parts of other animals.

    

                                              Shorter than the average human...

              

 'Roo Food' is on sale at the zoo so you can tempt the kangaroos to come over and say hello.

                     

               

                           The happiest person to ever see a kangaroo?

The kangaroos were really tame, as to be expected and even posed for a few photographs! 

 

The roos had a shaded 'rest area' to escape from all the visitors. If they were sleeping in the rest area they were not to be disturbed. With the size of their legs I would not disturb them! 

This emu did not like having his photograph taken. Firstly he hissed at me and then chased us all the way along the fence! 

Nana's are always the boss! 

       In the African Safari part of the zoo there are elephants, rhinos, zebra, giraffe.

 We saw a show at the tiger temple. A huge tiger playing in the water. Australia Zoo raise money to aid the decreasing tiger population in Asia.

       

                                             Jamie made a friend.

                                     Then it was onto the snake enclosure.......

            Jamie casually annoying ' The world's most venomous snake'!!

     

Funtimes in the gift shop!

Any sort of memorabilia you could possibly want is on sale in the gift shop. From animal masks, as modeled above to Steve Irwin action figures that come with a pack of plastic crocodiles to wrestle with! 

Australia Zoo really is great. Really interesting with plenty of animals to see, great shows and things to learn. If your in the Brisbane its a must do and a great tribute to the life and work of Steve Irwin! 

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