My kids love Aussie animals and living in Lake Macquarie means we’re close to many places we can usually visit them. They love visiting the Australian Reptile Park, Hunter Valley Zoo, or Blackbutt Reserve. A trip up to Port Stephens to Oakvale Wildlife Park or Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters is always fun too. We enjoy watching the birds, reptiles, sharks, and animals and getting the opportunity to feed a kangaroo or an emu and sometimes even to cuddle a koala.
One of my favourite memories is of my youngest staring down an emu who fancied eating her lunch. She was only two and still couldn’t talk properly but she wasn’t scared by this giant bird. Firmly standing her ground and telling the emu it was her ‘nya-nya’ (sandwich).
Lots of zoos around Australia are now live streaming their Aussie animals or making videos to educate both young and old. This is a great way to engage your child in the natural world around them and to learn a little about what you see. Have a look at these to get your daily animal fix.
Australian Reptile Park
Park director, Tim Faulkner, is delivering educational videos and live streams of the animals at the park. There are several ways you can watch these. You can head over to the website Australian Reptile Park, go to Tim Faulkner’s Facebook page or head to the Australian Reptile Parks Facebook page. You’ll find a weekly schedule of what is happening on Tim’s Facebook page. The live streams are broadcast at 2 pm on the Australian Reptile Parks Facebook page.
David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world covering an area the size of Italy. It is home to over 1500 species of fish, 600 coral, and over 30 types of whale and dolphin. David Attenborough’s amazing insights into our environment allow us the opportunity to follow a route around the reef, learning all about it online with videos and information. This is an experience you and your child will enjoy. Attenborough Reef
Sydney Aquarium
Enjoy live streams of the fish at the aquarium at Darling Harbour. We watched the divers in the shark tank surrounded by large fish, sharks, and turtles. There are educational videos as well as the opportunity to watch the clownfish hanging out in the sea anemone. Your chance to have a real-life Nemo on your TV screen! With craft activities and homeschooling resources, you can download this is a great opportunity to virtually visit this aquarium. Sydney Aquarium Virtual
Taronga Zoo
You may not be able to get to Taronga in Sydney or Dubbo at the moment but you can enjoy Taronga TV. You can watch live cams, listen to keeper chats and find out what goes on behind the scenes when the zoo is closed. With animals such as tigers, meerkats, otters, and elephants to name just a few you can happily enjoy learning and watching these beautiful creatures online. Taronga Zoo TV
Melbourne Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary, and Werribee Open Range Zoo
Every week you will learn something new about the animals cared for at one of these zoos from the keepers who look after them. You can also tune in for live cams of many of the different animals. Head over to the website to find out when feeding times are if you want to make sure there is some action going on and the animals are not resting! Enjoy watching these animals at home here Zoo.org Animals at Home
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary
Situated just outside Brisbane in Queensland, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary opened in 1927 as a safe refuge for koalas that were sick, injured, or orphaned. Since then Lone Pine has been caring for native Aussie animals and is a place you visit to learn, connect, and understand the importance of caring for our native species and our environment. You can enjoy the live cams of the koalas, dingoes, reptiles, platypus, and birds as well as learning some fascinating facts. Head over here to learn more. Koala.net
It’s so important for our kids to learn all about animals. Maybe you could ask them to write a story, a poem, or draw a picture after watching. Enjoy. If you’re looking for other things that are fun to do at home, check out our kid’s section.
