Taronga Zoo
Yesterday was a beautiful day, and Matthew and I went to the Taronga Zoo again. It's quite large, so we saw several animals that we missed on our first visit. Some of the highlights were the sunbears and the Tasmanian Devil:
The Tassie Devils only exist in Tasmania, and they're facing a horrible cancer that is threatening to wipe them out.
Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the Binturong, the "Asian Bearcat." When we stopped by, the keepers were in his enclosure giving him treats, such as apples and grapes. Then, the keeper gave him a raw egg! The binturong picked up the egg in his mouth and ate it all up. He even licked up some of the egg white and yolk that spilled out of the sides of his mouth, then used his paws to wipe his mouth and groom himself.
Finally, I never get tired of the cute wallabies.
2 comments:
The Tasmanian Devils' snout cancer has scientists alarmed, because it is the first known example of a communicable cancer. It has not yet jumped species, but it has all kinds of medical researchers (not just animal specialists) looking into it.
WARNING: Disturbing graphic images - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Devil_facial_tumour_disease
Correction: I now read that there are two other known instances of transmissible cancer - one of which is a canine STD that has been know for about 100 years.
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