WildLife World Zoo

One week is left for me to stay in Australia.
Today, even though I was in Sydney and passed by many tourist attractions, I decided to go to a place I’ve never been to before.
Although it’s a solo trip to Sydney, my plan was to have fun seeing things, eating, and enjoying myself.

There are two zoos in Sydney.
One is Taronga Zoo, where can take a ferry from the city,
and the other is WildLife World, located on one side of Darling Harbor.

WildLife World Zoo is located on one side of Darling Harbor, right next to the Aquarium.
Although I was curious about the Aquarium, today I decided to visit the zoo where I could see kangaroos and koalas.

At first, I saw animals like insects and reptiles.
When you think of Australia, the vast Outback is famous, but I couldn’t experience it while being in Sydney.
However, when I came to the zoo, I could see many animals that can be seen in the wide desert or Outback.

While touring the zoo, I could feel the Australian humor. There was a sign that said “no swimming” in the crocodile zone.
Although I didn’t think anyone would swim through that glass, I had fun seeing it.

I even met a crocodile that I wouldn’t have been able to move if I had met it outdoors.
Actually, it was my first time seeing a crocodile, and just by looking at its eyes, mouth, and skin, I was scared.

There were also small insects and animals, such as fire ants, in addition to big animals like turtles and crocodiles.
Fire ants living in the desert were also scary to meet face to face.
When our eyes met, they opened their mouths and tried to attack me.

There were various kinds of snakes, but just seeing them gave me the chills, so I quickly passed by.
I am a very scared person, even now.

Reason for visiting the zoo, I wanted to see the kangaroos and koalas quickly.
To be honest, until this moment, I had imagined kangaroos bouncing vigorously outdoors.
Or a baby kangaroo poking its head out of its mother’s pouch and making eye contact with me.
But the kangaroos in the zoo were nothing like the wild ones.

Although the zoo provided a well-suited living environment for the kangaroos,
it seemed much smaller than their natural habitat.
Moreover, the environment provided easy access to food, so there were only kangaroos lying down and resting or sleeping, rather than actively moving around.

We could only see the kangaroos through the glass, and we couldn’t bang on the glass in case we startle them.
We called out to them from outside the glass, but they seemed not to hear us.
I wonder how tired and bored they must be with the constant stream of people coming and going at the zoo.

The kangaroo’s claws were sharper than I expected.
I pulled out my camera to take a picture of their eyes, but their eyes looked so sad in the photo.

Wombat.
Most of the animals seemed tired, which also made me feel drained.
Whether it is humans or animals, the natural state is the most beautiful thing to see.

Wallaby
Fortunately, the kangaroo’s cousin, the wallaby, was lively and hopping around.
During feeding time, we saw a more energetic wallaby, which was delightful.

Finally, we came to see the koalas.
They sleep most of the day in trees and eat eucalyptus leaves when they’re awake.
I thought we wouldn’t be able to see them much in action,
but thankfully, we were able to see them eating and awake.

The koalas only eat clean and fresh eucalyptus leaves.
Even though there were many people around, and others were making a lot of noise, the koalas didn’t seem to care and kept doing their own thing.

Most of their lives are spent in trees, so it was lucky to see them come down to the ground and move to the next tree.
The caretaker who introduced us to the koalas said this is a very rare scene to see.
It must have been a significant decision for the koalas who spend their entire lives sleeping and eating in trees to come down.

Anyway, I think koalas look best when they are sleeping in trees.
I felt happy to see most of the animals that symbolize Australia before leaving the country.
However, I wish I could see them in their natural habitat where they could move freely.

Dec. 03. 2009