Iconic animals

One of the benefits of travelling around visiting zoos is that I get to see some beautiful parts of the world. From my home country Australia to parts of Asia the USA and Canada, each country offers its own culture, natural beauty and unique animals. Many regions capitalise on this uniqueness with iconic symbols that are instantly recognisable when projected out into the world. This is especially true for animals.    

When you think of some of the great countries of the world it’s hard not to conjure up images of the animals that call those countries home. Some animals are also used to represent smaller regions and even companies will adopt them to portray patriotism.  Advertisers know the power of a patriotic icon!

Of course you don't need to travel the world to see these animals. Just a quick trip to your local zoo is probably as far as you need to go  to see the animals that reflect everything that is unique about  countries and regions from all corners of the world. It is fun to see animal icons everywhere from your local supermarket to ads on TV too.

When you think of the USA the Bald Eagle is the quintessential animal that stands above all others as American. So there should be no surprise that the national emblem for the USA is the Bald Eagle. Many USA states such as North Dakota, Illinois and Iowa have the Bald Eagle on their flags and the USA coat of arms is dominated by the Eagle as the central figure.   Although the Bald Eagle is the animal of choice some states have featured other animals that are arguably just as recognisable. For example California has the brown bear on its flag and Wyoming has the bison.  

The Bald Eagle - Bronx Zoo

USA Coat of Arms

Missouri state flag - featuring the bear and bald eagle

Being an island continent Australia is blessed with having very unique animals that aren’t found anywhere else in the world. The Kangaroo is by far the most identifiable animal, and its image has been used many times to depict Australia. Qantas, Australia’s national airline is known as the flying kangaroo because of its bold kangaroo symbol on its tail. The kangaroo features on Australia’s national emblem alongside its other national animal the Emu. Interestingly the Kangaroo does not feature on any national or state flag but there have been flag designs made that feature the kangaroo that may perhaps replace the current Australian flag once we inevitably become a republic and cut Monarch ties with the UK.

Kangaroo - Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary

Qantas Plane - At Brisbane International Airport

Alternative Australian Flag designed be Harold Scruby

Canada has two national animals, the Beaver and the Canadian Horse. The Beaver featured on Canada’s very first postage stamp in 1849 and is the symbol of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Toronto Police Department and many other notable Canadian companies. The Beaver is also featured on many of the Provincial coats of arms. The Canadian Horse depicts the proud agricultural history of Canada. 

The Beaver

Canadian Pacific Railway logo

Here is a list of other countries and their notable national animals: 

China - Giant Panda, Red Crowned Crane and Chinese Dragon

France - The Gallic Rooster 

Germany -  Golden Eagle

India - The Royal Bengal Tiger, The Cobra, Indian Elephant and Peacock
  
Greenland - The Polar Bear

New Zealand - The Kiwi 

The United Kingdom has ten national animals including the Lion, Red Deer and Bulldog

South Korea - The Tiger

Spain - The Bull, and the Spanish Imperial Eagle

 
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The Cute Factor

We all love baby animals.  No matter what the animal is – if it’s a baby, it’s cute. So how do zoos capitalise when  there is a newborn, and what does it mean for that species in the long term? 
 

Baby rhino feeding from mum

There is no doubt that a newborn baby at a zoo can create a lot of interest and zoos will make sure that they get as much attention as possible.  The zoo's publicity machine will go into overdrive to create a buzz, and the more cute the animal the more interest there will be from the general public.  A critically endangered newly hatched  Kroombit Tinker tadpole will not get any attention compared to a newly born elephant - and yet the significance of that tadpole is immeasurably more important for the survival of that  species.  For the elephant there will be a naming competition, media appearances, 24 hour web cam, and day-by-day news reports on its progress until the big day when the calf goes onto public display.   And if that isn't enough celebrity status for the newborn - well just wait until its first birthday party!  The tadpole however, well its grown legs and looks a little more like a frog - and you may never hear about it. Ok maybe too extreme of an example but hopefully you get my point.   Cute is king and incredibly profitable for a zoo if handled in the right way, and in the long run that is beneficial to the Kroombit Tinker Frog too.

 

Play time for the tiger cubs at Dreamworld 2007

Knut the famous polar bear from the Berlin zoo increased that zoo's visitors two fold and no doubt put the plight of the polar bear front of mind of all of those who went to visit him.  It’s also fair to say that his shock death at the age of four, in front of 600 people, also opened up some important conversations about how to manage the balance between fame and publicity (profits)  and the  health and welfare of animals. Whether those lessons have been learned will be answered when we all draw our attention to the newly born polar bear cub at Sea World on the Gold Coast. 
 

Tiger cub at Dreamworld 2007

Baby animals signify hope. Baby animals give scientists the opportunity to learn about that species and give us all the opportunity to celebrate in the success of perhaps taking that species one step back from the brink of extinction. Popular baby animals also signify profit and give zoos the opportunity to exploit that animal for monetary gain, which if done with balance and care can benefit all endangered animals. So when paying your entry price to go view a zoo's latest cute furry bundle, remember you've possibly just helped to save a less pretty species as well.

© June 2013-Stuatthezoo.blogspot.com.au

In Focus – Polar Bear

Status: Vulnerable

Geographic Region:  Arctic Circle and surrounding land masses

Meaning of Name:  Their scientific name (Ursus maritimus) means Maritime Bear

Habitat:  Hunting grounds across ice and open water

Threats:  Global Warming

Left in Wild:  20,000 to 25,000

 

Relaxing at Polar Bear Shores at Sea World Gold Coast

The polar bear is the largest species of bear in the world and is closely related to the brown bear.  Although most species of bears will have a mixed diet including fish, meat and a range of berries, a polar bear's primary food is meat, making them the most carnivorous of all bears.  They travel very long distances up to 300 km a day sea ice hopping in the open ocean and searching for their preferred prey the Ring Seal and Bearded Seal.

Unlike other bears, polar bears are not territorial and will try to avoid confrontation most of the time. A bear that has a full belly and is satisfied will rarely attack a human unless cornered and provoked. They will generally just turn around and run away. A polar bear that is hungry is an entirely different prospect; this is when they are at their most dangerous.  Polar bears are excellent patient hunters so most people that have been attacked had no idea that they were being stalked.  Polar bears attack humans for food making survival from a polar bear attack, very rare.

 

You don't want to be on the receiving end of this paw

Female polar bears will have their cubs between November and February and the cubs will be weaned at approximately two and a half years and then chased off and abandoned to fend for themselves. Polar bears are solitude animals that prefer to hunt on their own however they will meet other bears from time-to-time and interact by playing. Polar bears life expectancy in the wild is around 25 years of age.The longest living captive polar bear was a female living to the ripe old age of 43.

The biggest threat to polar bears is the melting of sea ice due to global warming. This significantly restricts the hunting range by preventing the bears from going out to their traditional sea ice hunting grounds. Unfortunately this can make the bears take more risks. Recently bears have been found hundreds of kilometers out to sea with no sea ice in sight, exhausted and hungry they have been known to drown.  It’s a sad fact that the polar bear could be one of the first species wiped out because of climate change.  With its habitat literally melting away starvation is a real prospect for a lot of these huge carnivores. Starvation is not the only impact to polar bears from global warming -  with females not able to create snow dens to have cubs, stress is causing significant disruption to mating seasons and the amount of cubs a female may have. 

Stu’s Zoo Pick for the Polar Bear

Enjoying the sun at the Bronx Zoo

Although I haven’t been to a lot of zoos that have polar bears yet, two zoos that I have reviewed that have good polar bear enclosures are Bronx Zoo and Central Park Zoo (Sadly Gus the polar bear at Central Park Zoo passed away on August the 28th 2013. Gus was 27 years old). I will be visiting Sea World Orlando in December 2013 to review that park including their polar bear enclosure.

Sea World on the Gold Coast is the only place you can see polar bears in Australia at their excellent enclosure - Polar Bear Shores.  Recently they announced that Liya and Nelson, two long time residents of the park are now proud parents of a baby cub. This is only the second polar bear to be born in Australia and the first at Sea World - Gold Coast. You can see the tiny cub via Cub Cam HERE. Mum and the cub will be kept in a dark room to mimic a den for up to 10 weeks, only then will we know the gender of the cub.  I will keep this post updated with the latest info on the little fluff ball. 

Polar Bear Shores at Sea World Gold Coast

© May 2013-Stuatthezoo.blogspot.com.au

Do animals get bored in zoos?

There are three activities that all animals in the wild are totally preoccupied with. They are: finding food; trying not to become food; and finding a companion to mate with. These three activities are essential to the survival of any species, and thus what dictates most animal behaviours, migration patterns and rituals. So what becomes of that animal when you provide it with its daily food, keep it safe from predators and introduce it to a mate at the most opportune time? Well the short answer is:  if not managed correctly they will get bored.

A polar bear at Sea World playing with a toy

A good zoo will always have in place an animal enrichment program that is designed to stimulate animals both mentally and physically. These programs are implemented  by well trained zoo keeper who are not only there to clean cages and feed and water animals but who also becomes the animals' guardian, a person who knows the animals personalities, likes, dislikes and temperament. By understanding the animals under their care, keepers introduce activities like hiding food for animals to search out, and inventing games that the animals can participate in and introduce toys that can be played with. A simple plastic container, branches or a cardboard box can enthral an animal for hours and introduced scents can stimulate animals' natural instincts.  These activities are constantly changed depending on the animals needs.

Lion and Lioness enjoying the sun at the Bronx Zoo

Enclosure design plays a significant part in the enrichment of animals' day-to-day lives. Water features, scratching posts, caves, climbing structures and mud pools all encourage animals to explore and demonstrate their normal behaviours. More and more zoos are introducing multi-animal enclosures, especially for primates who get bored most easily – these enclosures will have a range of different species in natural environs that encourage inter-species interaction.  Other enclosure encourage complex social groups to thrive allowing for natural breeding and social rituals.  Common sense also plays a large part in giving animals the space they need to thrive such as putting social animals like Gorillas together and solitary animals like Orang-utans alone in their own enclosures or spreading food around an enclosure for an animal that likes to forage.

The Madagascar enclosures at the Bronx Zoo is good example of multiple species in the one enclosure 

Zoo animals that have their mental well-being enriched by these methods generally live significantly longer than their wild cousins. Possibly because of the stress that has been alleviated by not having to find food, hide from predators and fight for the right to mate.
© May 2013-Stuatthezoo.blogspot.com.au

Sea World - Gold Coast

Location - Sea World Drive, Main Beach, Queensland

 

Entry Price - Adults $79.00AUD Children (3-13) $64.00 Pensioner $65.00AUD.

 

Opening Hours - 9.30am to 5.30pm. Closed Christmas day.  Anzac day (25th April)  opening hours are 1.30am to 5.30pm

 

Follow the link to 2015 update 

Sea World web page

 

Front, main entrance

Layout

This is a good size park that is a mixture of zoo, aquarium and amusement park. There are two entrances to this park. One via the main entrance at the front, adjacent to a large car park and the other at the back of the park for hotel guests staying at Sea World Resort. A monorail station services the back entrance and includes two other stations at the front and centre of the park.

At the front of the park is where you can see both Gentoo and King penguins in the Penguins Encounter enclosure.  Also close to this area is the dolphin nursery, rehabilitation pens and seal show arena. In the centre of the park is where the majority of the rides are located including a children’s ride section and roller coasters. There is also a variety of retail shops, cafes and show style amusements. Close by is where you will find Polar Bear Shores, Ray Reef (where you can feed rays for an additional charge) and a large variety of  small and large fish at Shark Bay. The Dolphin show is located at the back of the park in a purpose built arena and is close to Seal Harbour and a Little Penguins' enclosure called Penguin Point.

  The park has a large variety of cafes, restaurants and retail stores spread throughout. A small cable car connects the front of the park to the centre, close to the polar bears and shark lagoon.

One of the specialty retail stores on site

 

 Extra Activities

As this is an amusement park there are many rides throughout. There are two animal shows, Seal Detectives, and a dolphin show called Imagine that are both scheduled twice daily and are included in your entry ticket price. Talks and feeding times are also scheduled daily for all animals.

For an extra charge Sea World has a large variety of personal experiences called Animal Adventures and range from one on one time with dolphins and sea lions, underwater experiences in Shark Bay, to behind the scene tours at Polar Bear Shores. All this information is located on the web site.

Helicopter and whale watching cruises can also be arranged on site.

 

Touch pool at Shark Bay

 

   

Breeding Programmes

Sea World has a very impressive captive breeding programme with over 20 dolphins being born on site. They have also set up a foundation called The Sea World Research and Rescue Foundation. This a not for profit organisation that has supported over 120 research projects and has an extensive education campaign on the importance of conservation of the world’s oceans.  This foundation also has a specialised team on standby 24 hours a day to assist in the rescue of marine animals across the region.

 

 

Stu’s Favourite Bit

The Polar Bear enclosure (Polar Bear Shores) is an excellent way to get up close to these massive animals.  The enclosure is a great example of what the combination of technology, good animal husbandry and large enclosures can achieve. This is a state of the art enclosure and is one of the best I have seen at any zoo I have visited.  

You can see the bears at ground level, water level or overhead looking down into the enclosure. The glass wall viewing allows for very close up experiences. I had a great one-on-one experience with a polar bear trying to share its fish with me as you can see by my photo below. This is also the only place to see polar bears in Australia.  

 

Fish Anybody

 

Go HERE to see a selection of animals found at Sea World at Stu @ the zoo TV 

Stu’s review and tips  

I got married at Sea World seven years ago and this has always been my all time favourite park so it’s  going  to be a little hard to be objective, but here goes.

 

Sea World Gold Coast is not affiliated with the SeaWorld parks in the USA. I will be doing a review on SeaWorld Orlando at the end of 2013.

The animal enclosures at Sea World are stunning!  If you are looking to see a good variety of marine animals in excellent enclosures then this is a great place to visit.

 

Informative signage at every enclosure

 

The two animal shows on offer are great – Seal Detectives is suited more for children and a lot of fun. The dolphin show – Imagine is a conservation lesson and history lesson combined with an opportunity to see dolphin’s natural abilities in the wild including some additional tricks that they have learnt for health check purposes. This is all done with the backing of a great soundtrack and is definitely worth watching. The show takes place at Dolphin Cove, a large series of sandy bottom lagoons one of which is the show arena and the others can be seen directly after the show.

 

Dolphin show - Imagine

 

The food available for sale is very expensive and on the day of this review was not fresh and in one case not edible. All day refillable drink cups are available and good value at $6.00 for a small cup. If you do insist on eating at the park – the Dock Side Tavern veranda seating area is a great place to look over the park and nearby dolphin pools.

On the down side, I felt a constant bombardment of advertising material to get you to spend more money. Signs everywhere pushing the Animal Adventures you can have at an extra charge, feeding stations to feed fish for a dollar. Lolly and small toy vending machines everywhere, at just the right height to entice little children.  

 

Watch out for the kiosk where they are trying to get you to attend a time share holiday package seminar. You know the ones! Win a prize from a scratch n win ticket only to be told that you have to go to a five hour seminar to collect.

The monorail is more for entertainment value than an actual transportation system, as it was very slow and crowded. It does give you a good perspective of the park looking down including a view into some of the animal rehabilitation holding pens at the back of the park.  The cable car goes over some of the dolphin pools for a unique view.

The Monorail -See the park from a different perspective

Sea World is currently adding new attractions – more roller coasters and ride experiences. I just hope that they remember that the feeling of a special one-on-one encounter with one of your favourite animals will be around long after the thrill of a roller coaster has passed. 

 

Must See Animals 

 

Polar Bear 

Penguin

Sharks 

Dolphins 

Sea Lions