Friday and Saturday - Lions and Tigers and more!

Work and not much else happened on Friday, considered going to a bar and having a few drinks, changed my mind several times, and came home on the basis that I actually still hadn't finished the work I wanted to do, so came home and did so. How very restrained of me.

So today (Saturday) was Perth zoo day, and I loved it. On initial gaze from the outside of the entrance, it looked pretty small, judging by how far I could see the walls go back. I mentally prepared myself for a few underwhelming marsupials on display.

This is not the case. Here is a map to prove it, and give some indication of size:

So, I started in the bottom left, and worked my way around anticlockwise, because I wanted to save the Australian animals till last and spend the most time with them. Again, this was not to be, but through my own choice.

It was really, really hot today. I had factor 50 on every bit of exposed skin - I think I got away with it. This did seem to affect the animals a fair bit too, as you will realise from the photos. Most of them were asleep. All day. In the shade/long grass/undergrowth/difficult to photograph bit. And there were very few that wanted to face in the correct direction. So I mostly have a collection of pictures of animals' backs. They are quite good photos of backs though, if there are any wealthy collectors out there. Very little 'face' in any of them, and good detail of the back fur/scales.

The zoo was also full of small children, making the whole process rather screechy, but at times hilarious as they attempted in a number of colourful ways to get themselves eaten/poisoned by the fauna. Alas, no such luck.

I think going through every animal I saw and my thoughts/experiences would be a rather long and dull process, as I did go and see everything in the zoo. Instead, I'll talk about a few of the cool ones.

1. Rhinos - cool. Just a pair of them, eating grass together, casual-like. I believe they were white rhinoceros. Kind of cute from this distance.

2. Lions. Just wow.

Let's play Sleeping Lions!

3. Meerkats - I have a long-standing affection/connection with meerkats that people who know me from uni will get. At any rate, these ones were cute, and you could get reeeally close, and they loved having photos taken. What's not to love?

Personal favourite is the one 'Planking' on the right hand side

This one heard my camera, so paused in his digging to let me get a shot.

4. Giraffes - only from a distance, as they weren't near any viewing spaces, and this one was determined not to turn around.

Note the derisive, tantalisingly slight turn of the head. One doesn't deign to look at you, pleb.

5. Cheetah - as per lions. Very cool to actually see one IRL.

6. Galapagos giant tortoises. Always awesome, all the time. I would like to use one as a slow-moving chair, one day.

7. Orangutans! A must-see for any Discworld fan, there were a lot of the Librarian's endangered ape cousins clambering about on specially-built equipment. It's designed to provide them with everything they get from trees in their natural habitat, but without being edible and quickly destroyed by them. They also put bits of 'litter' in with them (cardboard, old shirts, etc.) for nest material, as they like to build a nest for napping in the day, and one for sleeping at night.

8. Asian elephants - cute, and my mum's favourite critters on the planet. Here's one having a shower courtesy of the staff (the elephants are well trained).

9. Tigers! As per lions and cheetahs - they're big cats so I love them.

10. Australian animals various now. The koalas were all asleep whilst hugging their trees, so took photos and moved on.

The Tasmanian devil was the opposite, madly running around in a circle of foliage, proving impossible to photo. The wombats were fighting each other in their burrow, so didn't stay still for any decent photos. The dingos weren't visible at all. There was an emu sitting down, briefly. The kangaroos looked like this in the heat:

They aint'nt dead. Promise.

And the echidnas were all in their burrows together.

Last but not least, the estuarian croc! An absolute monster, looking a good 5 m long and proportionally wide, it's built to kill and has the armour plating of a tank. Seriously, this thing was BIG. And they really do look like they're from the dinosaur age. I only wish the photos gave a better sense of scale.

Zoo done. There were more, as I said, but not going to bother uploading all those photos on an expensive internet connection! Was a grand day out, and my legs are still knackered. Bought a Subway on the way home to make up for it.