Chicken Eating Crocodiles at Dundee’s Wildlife Park

May 25, 2009 no comments

Located off the Murray River just an hour away from Adelaide, Dundee Wildlife Park is a charming little old-school zoo focusing primarily on native Australian birds, reptiles and animals.  A boutique-sized establishment catering largely to families and kids, it occupies a fairly small area and can be easily covered in an hour and a half (or less).  This privately-owned establishment includes a restaurant and hotel too, so one can literally eat and sleep with the animals (ala Doctor Dolittle).  As this was the first wildlife park that my family and I visited, Ethan was naturally all excited about it.

The theme for this visit? “Food Glorious Food!” and you will see why as we go on.

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Looking fairly nondescript, with a simple and disarming facade, Dundee Wildlife Park was quite a “no-frills” park although prices are not exactly cheap at $10 per adult and $7 per kid.P1050083
The moment we got in, Ethan had to get up close and personal to a crocodile, albeit the furry and non-living variety.

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Feeding was the order of the day, and our first beneficiary was a brown, white and furry llama.

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Our next culinary candidate was this donkey, which wasn’t quite as stubborn as we imagined it to be.

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We next saw a huge buffalo and a highly irritable looking emu.  Thankfully both were behind a fence (though it looked rather flimsy).

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More gastronomic adventures ahead, this time with a cute and docile wallaby.

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These furry bunnies apparently had their lunch and were about to have a mid-day snooze.

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From furry animals we next visited some colourful feathered friends like this parakeet and parrot. 

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We also saw a brown rooster…

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…and the king of the bush himself (a Kookaburra) apparently having an insect for a snack.
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Something more palatable perhaps is this bowl of fresh apples and carrots.
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The favoured food of the stone curlew, a long-legged wading bird.
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We next move onto close encounters of the scaly kind, and saw this nicely patterned python.
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As well as this baby crocodile who was having a nice nap.
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My wife Tina probably felt like catching 40 winks of her own too, while we waited for the crocodile shows.
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Remember that baby crocodile in the water?  Well, here it is, rudely jolted from its slumber!
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The highlight of the day was the feeding of a salt water crocodile who leapt out of the water for a fowl feast.
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And swallowed it whole after maneuvering it in his mouth.  
Here’s a video of that live eating action for your enjoyment (the action is live, not the chicken):

The moral of the story as Captain Hook would say is “Never smile at a crocodile”!

By Walter
Founder of Cooler Insights, I am a geek marketer with almost 24 years of senior management experience in marketing, public relations and strategic planning. Since becoming an entrepreneur 5 years ago, my team and I have helped 58 companies and over 2,200 trainees in digital marketing, focusing on content, social media and brand storytelling.

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