Our excursion to the zoo

On 26th July 2012, the survival movement group and terrace zoo group had an excursion to the Zoo.

What an exciting day it was! Even the forecast of rain couldn’t dampen our spirits (though the wind was fiercely cold!) 

We started by eating – that’s always a good place to begin! As we sat down in a pavilion, we heard a ferocious roar! Was it my stomach? No, it was the lions! They put on quite a show and we rushed over there as soon as we finished eating, but disappointingly, the lions were nowhere to be seen. Did you know that it’s the females that hunt for food, not the males? Their role is to protect the pride. We also looked at the African Wild Dog, which is endangered due to disease and hunting. 

Next we had our lesson with zookeeper Kat. She introduced us to a Red Tailed Black Cockatoo named Sam. His species is endangered because it needs really big old trees to live and they take a long time to grow and people keep chopping them down. 

She taught us that animals need a few things to survive: food, water (or milk for babies) and shelter. Some animals need friends to pick nits – this provides food and stops animals from being itchy!!!

Pueblan Milk Snake 

Then we met a Pueblan Milk Snake, named Jaffalito. Here are some things that the Preps said (in quotation marks):

• “Some snakes can dig holes” for shelter 
• “What’s venom?” “it’s a kind of poison stuff” 
• “We are mammals!” (after Kat said that snakes eat small mammals) 
• “The scales feel soft” 
• “It has a forked tongue” (Kat – it’s two tongues stuck together) 
• “He’s smelling the air!” (Kat – he’s actually tasting the air! He can taste you!) 
• The Pueblan Milk Snake doesn’t hiss “because then an American might find it!” (its habitat is South America) 
• “How come they’re going under that wood (bark)?” (Kat – to hide from predators. Also, snakes don’t have eyelids so they have to go somewhere dark to sleep.) 

Kat spoke about how people chop down trees for paper, thus destroying their habitat. 

Green Tree Frog

Then we met a Green Tree Frog, named Bashful. Here are some things that the Preps said about him:

• “He can camouflage”
• “He feels strong and soft”
• “A bit gooey, and his legs are gooey”
• “He can drink through his whole body” 

Kat spoke about a threat – the chemicals from our cleaning products that go down drains and into their habitat. Thus, we have a responsibility to choose cleaning products in a more conscientious manner.

After the lesson, and in between meals, we got to see lots of animals. Below are some more quotes from the children and snippets of information.

Tortoises

Under threat from feral animals

Why do they have shells?

• “They (tortoises) might see a gun and they’ll (the hunter) think it’s a rock” 
• “They need to hide” 
• “So they have shade” 

Seals 

• “Their threats are sharks” 
• “Yeah, and when they’re on the snow, their threats are people” 

Other 

• “apes are like people” 
• the rat enclosure has trees “so it can camouflage” 
• Pelicans have long, big beaks “To fit lots of water in, or fish” 

Elephants

Then we met a zoo keeper feeding the elephants. She told us that: 

• Their thick skin and the dirt/dust mean that insects can’t bite them. 
• The dirt exfoliates their skin and acts as sunscreen. 
• Doesn’t lie down – would make it too vulnerable 
• Only picks and eats the big branches, thus allowing light to enter the forest and leaving the smaller things for the smaller animals. 
• The tusks are for eating, fighting and digging – only males have them. 

In summary, some of the threats to survival that we learnt about today include:

• hunting 
• disease 
• loss of habitat, such as chopping down trees 
• feral animals 
• pollution, such as chemicals and litter 
• predators. 

Some of the strategies that animals use to survive include: 

• camouflage 
• tusks 
• shells 
• hiding 
• living in packs/with friends 
• fighting 

We are excited about continuing our inquiry into survival.