Zoos, wildlife parks go virtual to keep their animal fans up-to-date with feeds, care and tours
Zoos and wildlife parks nationwide are rising to the COVID-19 challenge with live-streams from animal enclosures and broadcasts showing feedings, tours and talks to keep humans up-to-date.
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If you think you’re bored in lockdown, spare a thought for the great apes.
Until recently, our zoo-dwelling chimps, orang-utans and gorillas spent their days relaxing with a spot of “people-watching” but since COVID-19 stopped the visitors, the apes have been left scratching their heads, asking each other who switched off Human TV.
“With a very intelligent animal like a gorilla, one of their favourite pastimes is to sit back and people-watch,” Chad Staples said, who is the director of Mogo Wildlife Park on NSW South Coast and Featherdale Wildlife Park in Western Sydney.
“People having fun and enjoying themselves is certainly a form of amusement for the animals so that not being around is a loss.
“It does mean we need to do more in order to keep everybody stimulated because the emotional and mental welfare of the animals is almost more important than the physical through these times.”
Thankfully for us two-legged mammals, watching and learning about animals doesn’t have to stop just because the zoos are shut.
Zoos and wildlife parks across the country have risen to the COVID-19 challenge with an array of online educational resources including live-streams from inside animal enclosures and broadcasting feedings, tours, talks and shows.
At Mogo and Featherdale wildlife parks, Staples interacts with people across the globe, answering questions through his Instagram video diaries and over Facebook Live.
“We’ve had stacks of interaction. We get the cutest videos from kids and questions are streaming in. I’m enjoying it. It’s a way of keeping connected with people,” Staples, 40, said.
His focus on making wildlife accessible online started during the devastating summer bushfires which saw Mogo encircled by flames, threatening hundreds of exotic animals and destroying eighty per cent of the perimeter fence.
In a gallant effort that garnered international attention, staff risked their lives to stay onsite, defending the animals with water hoses, while Staples took small monkeys and red pandas home to keep them safe – meaning not a single animal was lost.
Afterwards the zoo was flooded with inquiries on social media:
“People felt very disconnected and they wanted to know everything was OK. They might have had a favourite animal and they wanted to know how it was. I just knew it would be the same with (COVID-19) with everyone sitting at home idle. They want to know what the animals are doing during this time,” Staples said.
He’s also glad to be working doing something he loves during the difficult times.
“It gives you a focus other than the virus. If you’re putting the animals’ welfare first you don’t even think about yourself or what’s missing from your life because you’ve got that goal that’s bigger than yourself.”
Here are some of the virtual tours you can take of our Australian zoos.
TARONGA ZOO – SYDNEY AND WESTERN PLAINS ZOO DUBBO
Taronga TV releases new content daily including live animal cams on the Sumatran tigers, Asian elephants, seals and meerkats.
Watch awe-inspiring seal and bird shows right from your couch and get the inside scoop on exactly what goes on at the two wildlife hospitals at Taronga and Dubbo Western Plains Zoo as well as the zoos’ bilby and Plains’ wanderer chick conservation efforts.
tarongatv.com
MELBOURNE ZOO, WERRIBEE OPEN RANGE ZOO, HEALESVILLE SANCTUARY
Melbourne Zoo may have won the prize for cutest live stream thanks to their Snow Leopard Cub Cam (tune in around 9 to 10am daily for feeding).
There’s also Lion cam, zebra cam (daily feeding 8.15am, 12pm and 3.45pm), penguin cam (daily feeding 9 to 10.30am) and giraffe cam (daily feeding 8.45am, 12pm and 4pm).
There’s also celebrity appearances from Noojee the koala and the echidnas and tree kangaroos at Healesville Sanctuary. To visit Animals At Home, click here.
AUSTRALIAN REPTILE PARK
Daily live streams at 2pm (EST) on the Australian Reptile Park’s Facebook and Instagram.
Catch a live crocodile feed or venomous snake milking or learn something new with keeper Tim Faulkner’s educational videos, posted 10am daily.
ADELAIDE ZOO AND MONARTO SAFARI PARK
Grab the popcorn and settle in for live streams of the giant pandas at Adelaide Zoo and the chimps and southern white rhinos at Monarto Safari Park.
Spend a day as a keeper as staff take you through animal feeding and bathing routines and answer questions on social media. There’s also colouring pages and puzzles to keep little hands and minds busy.
MOGO WILDLIFE PARK AND FEATHERDALE SYDNEY WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
Ever wondered which animal sleeps the most or how many kgs of meat it takes to feed a lion?
Send your questions to keeper Chad Staples using hashtag #AskAZookeeper and stay tuned to Mogo and Featherdale’s Instagram and Facebook pages for his video diaries.
There’s also quizzes and lion and giraffe origami.
SEA LIFE AND WILD LIFE SYDNEY ZOO
Get home schooled on everything from animal habitats to life cycles and conservation with an array of wildlife inspired activities including worksheets and videos, designed in line with the Australian Education syllabus.
Get crafty and make a penguin or a jellyfish or de-stress with a short yoga under the sea class.
There’s also a bunch of Facebook streams from dugongs to shark feeds, koalas to quokkas.
PERTH ZOO
Take a virtual excursion with the zoo with Perth Zoo’s Home Safari.
Jump on board a tour and talk and learn about everything from a rhino to a Tassie devil, take advantage of activity sheets and games and go behind-the-scenes with videos on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok.