Lions, Tigers and Koala Bears
Posted by Jason Kindig on Mon, Mar 19, 2012 @ 09:29 AM
So as you read this most of you are probably getting ready for work, are at work or are getting your Monday under way. However if you were a koala right now you would be finishing breakfast and getting ready to hit the sack for about eight to ten hours. I don’t know about you but it makes me just a tad bit jealous.
Koalas sleep nineteen to twenty hours a day and basically are only awake to eat. That was explained to me by one of the volunteers that this is due to the eucalyptus that they eat as it is very low in nutrients. She said it was like eating broccoli and then taking a sleeping pill. However, koalas will not eat anything else which leaves me to believe that they may prefer this particular type of lifestyle.
Aynsley is a big fan of koalas so when we heard the Koala Walkabout was going on at the Dallas Zoo; I knew I had to take her. She had seen plenty of pictures of koalas and had a few stuffed ones (fake ones), but had never gotten to see one up close. So last weekend we loaded up the car to see the koalas and naturally the Dallas photographer in me made sure I had all of the equipment I needed to document these furry little creatures.
And since I am sharing interesting facts about koalas, do you know how much it costs to have these little babies here in Dallas? Well, in order to keep two koalas here for a year it costs $65,000. I know my jaw dropped as well. Apparently they have to fly in fresh eucalyptus every day to feed these guys. For such an expensive diet you would think it would be highly nutritious. I kind of which I had a budget like that per year for food, but mine would involve a lot more steak that eucalyptus leaves. Now that you have read all of these fun facts, the koalas are finished with breakfast and have curled up in a tree to begin their day long nap.
No walkabout is complete without kangaroos, wallabies, and kookaburras. They also had an aviary where you could walk in a feed some of the birds. This was fun because as soon as the birds saw the cup of nectar they were all over you. Being a Dallas photographer I immediately started photographing these beautiful birds. Aynsley snapped of shot of me in action.
Though the walkabout was certainly the highlight, the rest of the zoo was pretty cool as well. We saw everything from otters to elephants to lions. Fortunately Aynsley didn’t try to pet the lions. I hope you enjoy these Dallas photographer’s pictures from the Dallas Zoo, scroll all the way down to see even more Koala (in)action!
