Well, okay, more like Kangaroos, and Koalas and Parrots, oh my!
Not far from us is Cooberrie Park, a Wildlife Sanctuary that rescues sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. Some of these animals can be rehabilitated and released back into the wild, but those who can’t are well taken care of by the staff here. We’ve driven by this park a few times since we arrived, so yesterday we finally decided to go and learn a little bit more about the Australian wildlife that surround us here in Queensland. What a great experience! Because the park is located in such a regional area, it’s not super busy so you really get the opportunity to interact with the different animals and talk with the staff to learn more about them.
When we first got there, we were greeted by this beautiful Corella. I even got to hold her later in the day and got quite a hard ‘kiss’ on the cheek. Apparently, she liked me (even though it didn’t feel that way!)
As we wandered through, we were surrounded by tons of different birds, including Peafowl, ducks and turkeys.
I even managed to gather up a nice little collection of feathers from the peacocks to bring home.
It was great to see some of the birds we often see in the yard and our neighbourhood up close, like these gorgeous Cockatoos.
We also stopped by to say hi to the koalas but they were a little high on eucalyptus to care much about us!!
Then it was on to the interactive show where we were able to pet Calypso the Koala, hold a sugar glider, a bearded dragon, and a few different birds.
The staff also offered to let us hold a blue tongued lizard, an albino carpet python and a shingleback skink lizard, but we were both happy just to look at those. The skink was actually pretty cool … it had what looked like two heads so if something attacks it, it will swing its tail (which is the same shape and size as its head) towards the predator so it will just eat that. He will then spend the next 5 years growing a new tail. We were so engrossed in the story, neither of us thought to take a picture. I think next time we go, we will work up the nerve to hold the snake. Well, at least Rob says he will. I’m still not so sure!
After getting our fill of birds and reptiles, we set out in search of the kangaroos. They just roam free around the park, all 25 acres of it, but they definitely weren’t shy!
The emus also roam free and hang out around the kangaroos. I will admit I wasn’t a fan…there might have even been some throwing of food and walking as fast as possible in the other direction. I’m not sure what it was about them that freaked me out so much, maybe because it was as tall as me?? Rob was laughing too hard to get a picture of me losing my mind! Unfortunately, it was a little warm for the wombats so we’re hoping we get to see them on our next visit. But it wasn’t too hot for this big guy…the more sun the better for him!
