Seeing animals is on one level of cute, but feeding them is higher up the scale. Luckily, there are plenty of spots across the country where visitors can satiate the hunger of fabulous beasties.
Rhinos and lions
Where: Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Monarto goes in for a safari-style experience, with its open setting attempting to recreate a slice of Africa. Its population has a rather sub-Saharan slant as well, which means the special experiences designed to extract more money out of punters are a little different from the usual koala and roo-fondling efforts.
Top of the pops would have to be the Meet Our Lions and Meet Our Rhinos adventures, both of which take place three days a week.
On both, visitors get the chance to feed the magnificent beasts (although not TOO closely to those big teeth), and lead them into their sleeping quarters for the night.
Kingfish
Where: Ned’s Beach, Lord Howe Island, NSW
The kingfish at Ned’s Beach have clearly been interbred with ancient sea monsters – they’re about a metre long, and they swim around in the shallows with absolute swarms of whiting.
Oh yes, and they all really like bread. Buying a few rolls at the Thompson’s store, then throwing little chunks to the feeding frenzy in the water below is a complete joy. The fish will take the bread out of your hands (if you’re brave enough – those mouths open pretty darned wide), and the big boys are happy enough to let you stroke them as they swoop around your legs.
Anywhere else, this would end up being a complete tourist circus, but because of restricted visitor numbers on Lord Howe, it’s likely to be just you, the massive schools of fish and the bread.
Exotic birds
Where: Sydney Wildlife World, Sydney, NSW.
Sydney Wildlife World’s bird feed experience is a good option for those that want to know what goes on behind the scenes in a zoo or wildlife park. You’re taken round the back to where all the action happens – past the quarantine rooms, keepers’ noticeboards and into the kitchen. Once there, it’s time to make up the meals. Some birds get a kind of porridgy mix – your job is to put the right amounts of everything in and stir.
Others get something a bit more gruesome – and that involves putting your hand into a bag of mealworms.
After that, you go out to the aviary to feed the doves, lorikeets and other exotic feathered friends. Some come right up to you for the porridge, which makes for a great photo opportunity. For the others, it’s a case of getting a handful of those wriggling mealworms again and throwing them out. It doesn’t take long for the peckish to flutter over and start munching – apparently the worms are quite fatty and are the bird equivalent of a juicy burger.
The bird feed experience costs $25 on top of the usual entry fee.
Dolphins
Where: Monkey Mia, Western Australia.
The dolphins at Monkey Mia on the west coast have been coming up to the beach for years in order to get a little snack.
The marine biologists there are careful to ensure that the dolphins don’t get over-reliant on the hand outs, and limit the fish given to Flipper and co to a certain percentage of their daily diet.
But for those who get the chance to stand in the shallows and have the fish taken from their hands, it’s a magical experience and photo op. Unfortunately, the dolphin-feeding is becoming increasingly popular, and quite a crowd huddles around the action. The secret is to go to the second or third feeding session of the day – most of the tour buses turn up for the first one, and your competition is vastly reduced later on in the day.
A similar experience is available at the Tangalooma Resort on Moreton Island, Queensland.
Crocodiles
Where: Adelaide River, Northern Territory
If ever there’s a cruise on which to obey the rules about not dangling your hands over the side, it’s the Jumping Crocodile Cruise. As the name would suggest, the ferocious salties leap out of the water and up the side of the boat in order to devour the treats being dangled from poles. Strangely enough, the staff members aren’t exactly keen on the whole hand-feeding principle.
Although you don’t quite get to directly feed the animals yourself, it’s an awesome up close experience with one of the planet’s best-designed killing machines. And just watch those arms go behind backs when the crocs jump up for lunch.
The Jumping Crocodile Cruise is on the Adelaide River, between Darwin and Kakadu National Park on the Arnhem Highway. It costs $90 per person.
Kangaroos
There are plenty of places around the country where you can cup a handful of grain and watch Skippy and pals saunter up for munchies. The roos are remarkably tender as they nibble away, and it’s easy enough to give them a little stroke as they eat. Examples of places where it’s possible to feed the kangaroos include the Featherdale Wildlife Park in Western Sydney, the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary in Brisbane and, logically, the Parndana Wildlife Park on Kangaroo Island, South Australia.
This article was originally written for Ninemsn.
Copyright David Whitley
