Local native birds come around, with these gorgeous tiny Superb Fairy Wrens being so active they are hard to photograph. Only
adult males in breeding season show vivid colours like this one.
Not all the animals we saw on our two visits to Taronga Western Plans Zoo at Dubbo are featured on these pages.
Among other animals there were Lemurs, Oryx, Ostriches, Banteng (known as Indonesian or Bali cattle), Camel and Deer. There is also an Australian section, featuring Kangaroos, Emus, Dingoes, Echidnas, Quokkas and Koalas.What are these? Goats?
They are Barbary Sheep, known as Auodads in their native North Africa. They have the
appearance of a goat and have been named as sheep, but they are a distinct animal species somewhere between the two. However
despite their common name which was chosen as they are considered more like sheep than goats, their biological classification has
them placed in the same family as goats. They cannot cross breed with either sheep or goats.
Barbary sheep naturally
occurred in northern Africa in Algeria, Tunisia, northern Chad, Egypt, Libya, northern Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger and Sudan. With reduced numbers in the wild, their species has been successfully introduced to a number of other countries.
Barbary
sheep are found in arid mountainous areas where they graze and browse grasses, bushes, and lichens. They are able to obtain all their
metabolic water from food, but if liquid water is available, they will drink and wallow in it. Barbary sheep are active in the early
morning and late afternoon and rest in the heat of the day. They are very agile and can achieve a standing jump of over two metres.
They are well adapted to their habitat, which consist of steep rocky mountains and canyons.
Another delight from Tarango’s breeding program, with this nine month old Asian Elephant calf, with his protective mother. He is using his trunk to feed himself, copying his mother in a lesson on eating sticks (above right). Calves suckle from their mothers for up to three years. Elephants cows have their nipples behind their front legs