Extra food, crates and boxes key to keeping zoo animals safe
While you’re sheltering at home during Fina, what are the animals doing? Read how Crocodylus Park is preparing.
As Top End residents batten down ahead of Tropical Cyclone Fina, the dedicated team at Crocodylus Park is doing the same for the hundreds of animals under their care.
Crocodylus Park head keeper Ptolemy Hand said keepers had been preparing all week for the cyclone, with the rubber hitting the road on Friday as preparations hit top gear.
The week was spent ensuring fence lines were secure, lopping dead trees and overhanging branches and general rubbish removal.
Animals were also given larger than normal meals on Friday in case feeding is disrupted in coming days.
Friday was spent on animal welfare, particularly for the non-reptilian species, in preparation for dangerous winds.
“The crocs themselves are hardy creatures and will hunker down at the bottom of their ponds and hide away from it as much as they can,” Ptolemy said.
“The stormy weather won’t impact them too much.”
Other animals less resilient to bad weather were being put into pet containers or crates, including the flighted birds who were caught using nets.
Wombats do regular crate training at Crocodylus Park, so capturing them involved throwing oats into the box and watching them walk in.
“The baboons, tamarins and marmosets are pretty safe right now because where they are in the park is quite an enclosed space and they’re protected,” he said.
“We’ll move their shelters further down in the enclosure so they’re hidden from the wind and rain and we’ll add pet carriers and towels so they can hide in the vegetation as they would in the wild.
“Animals considered dangerous like lions, baboons and dingoes are all trained to go into lockups attached to their exhibits which are cyclone safe and they’ll be locked-up for a couple of days.
“Emus, ostriches and cassowaries aren’t easy to crate so they’ll hunker down in nice dense vegetation. They’re used to heavy storms, and a lot of animals were here in 2018 when the last cyclone came through, and those species were fine through that.”
Crocodylus Park has about 60 species and about 150 individual animals, as well as up to 200 crocodiles of various sizes.
When the Crocodylus team returns to work after Fina, one lucky staff member will be charged with the responsibility of checking fenclines to ensure no crocodiles have escaped during the storm.
“When I come into work we will do a thorough fence check of enclosures and a stocktake to make sure animals are safe and accountable,” he said.
For Ptolemy, born in the United Kingdom, Fina will be his first cyclone - but his concern’s are more with the animals than himself.
“I can go and hide at home, but the animals are out in the open and are going to be subjected to a lot of noise and commotion, and it will be scary for them,” he said.
Crocodylus Park will be closed at the weekend, with a decision around reopening dependent on the extent of damage, if any.
Territory Wildlife Park will also be closed.
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Originally published as Extra food, crates and boxes key to keeping zoo animals safe
Latest: Cyclone Fina Category 3, destructive winds 165km/h
