August 25: Dubbo
Taronga Western Plains Zoo, commonly known as Dubbo Zoo, was established in the late 1960s to provide breeding facilities for large plains dwelling animals and to fulfill a need for an open range facility for the display of mainly grazing animals. After considerable planning and preparation, a site on the outskirts of Dubbo in central West New South Wales was chosen.
Formerly an army camp during World War Two, the site was transformed into a 300-hectare oasis of woodland and irrigated grassland. The zoo opened to the public in February 1977 and was the first zoo in Australia to be constructed on the open range principle. It contained 35 different animals from six countries when it first opened. Since then, it has developed a reputation as a world renowned centre for its care of wildlife, breeding programs (especially of endangered species), conservation program, education facilities and exhibits. The zoo is now widely recognised as Australia’s greatest open plain zoo.
Today we lashed out and used three modes of transport – Sara used a golf cart, Les, Sally, Betsy, James and Julie used bikes, and Jim and Robyn used a car. We all converged on the Cheetah feeding to learn that cheetahs are the fastest animal in the world ( average speed 113 km/hr) and are considered a small cat because they don’t roar. The cheetah is the one on the right!
A few of us decided to do the Savannah safari.
Sally and I did an elephant encounter where we were taken behind the scenes to watch how they train and bathe the elephants. The others attended various feeding sessions and got some lovely photos.
The elephant encounter was fascinating. It was the closest we will ever get to a huge bull elephant. They have to wash the elephant who ( for OH&S reasons) is behind bars. They train the elephant to move in certain ways, lift its legs so they can clean its feet…..they have even taught the elephant to use a scrubbing brush on himself. Here’s a sample of what we saw.
After lunch, Robyn, James, Julie and I visited the Western plains cultural centre which houses the largest animal-drawn road wagon ever built. It was unique to Australia and was designed to transport wool from farms to train stations. It was hauled by large teams of draught animals with up to 20 bullocks or horses.
The centre also had an old classroom which brought back many memories…globites, ink pots, the cane, desks which lifted, Enid Blyton books etc etc.
Dinner was yet another team effort, after which Jim put us through a Baby Boomers quiz, and amazingly each team scored the same number of points (the matter has been referred to the ICAC).
