WILD... IN K-ZONE

News Source: K-Zone, page 24 & 25, September 2004
By: Sally Townsend
Web: www.kzone.com.au

Wild … With Sally Townsend from Australia Zoo

G’day! My name is Sally and this is Karma, the Brush-tailed Possum. Karma loves taking a walk around Australia Zoo with her keeper friends and looks adorable in her little harness. She has been a bit naughty lately though. If she gets tired of walking, she simply grabs hold of her lead with her tiny paws and reels it in till she ends up in my lap. As for me … Well, I’m never naughty at all! Don’t I look angelic? Till next time… Remember, Crocs Rule!

Crikey! Sneaky snakes, cheeky Tassie Devils, naughty wombats, mischievous possums and tricky tigers… at Australia Zoo, we’re got them all! But the biggest baddie is an animal we really love – the cranky crocodile.

This is the story of Casper, the white croc, who is probably the wildest croc on the planet! He came from one of the hottest towns in the country, Wyndham in WA.

Casper was living at the Wyndham Zoological Gardens when Steve Irwin, The Crocodile Hunter, took his best mates and croc experts, Wes and Briano, to capture him. Then they brought the magnificent reptile back to his new home.

This beautiful, dangerous and angry croc has a condition called leucism, which means he lacks the black pigment in his skin. This makes an unusual white and gold colour that is extremely rare.

Anyway, back to the story… the three blokes travelled over Australia in an old World War II plane, a DC3, the only one available that could pick up the heavy cargo. The crates inside were big enough so that Casper could move around and not get cramped and claustrophobic. Steve loves these prehistoric reptiles so much that their comfort is his highest priority during a capture.

Steve had concocted a new way to capture crocs. He called it his ‘top jaw, rope pull through technique’ and it worked a treat. A rope lasso goes around the top of Casper’s jaw and pulls him into a massive box. At the other end of the box is a small opening, big enough to fit the other end of the rope to pull through. This technique is the best way to capture crocs, while causing these magnificent animals the least amount of stress during transport.

With the box in place at the water’s edge and Steve up from with the jaw rope, Wes and Briano were stationed at the back of the box, ready to pull this big gnarly crocodile through. Everyone was nervous, but ready to go.

The technique was designed for big, snappy and super aggressive crocs such as Casper. Steve was confident they would be successful. As he dangled the rope in the water, Casper struck at it just like they had planned, but ended up with the rope around the croc’s neck. They couldn’t risk damaging this awesome predator, so they slackened off the rope and let him swim through.

Woo-hoo! Success on the second strike. 300 pounds per square inch of jaw pressure found its way around the rope, which had been doubled for safety against this unpredictable, violent and dangerous creature. Casper went absolutely ballistic, snapping his powerful jaws and death-rolling himself all the way into the box.

Capturing a Saltwater Croc is a really tricky and stressful event for all involved, but with Steve’s new technique, it was over within minutes. Australia Zoo made a new home for casper, the white croc, and he’s a real sight to see with his gorgeous white and gold scales. Casper loves his new home at Australia Zoo and even tough he is one cranky crocodile, we love having him!

Have a go at this… Crows are one of the most clever and devious birds of all… When a car stops at a traffic light, a croc will fly down and place a nut under its tyre. When the light turns green, the car runs over the nut and cracks the shell, leaving the crow with a treat.

But some creatures get the birds back from all there cheeky behaviour…

Birds BEWARE of the Monarch Butterfly! It may look innocent and, of course, appetising, but there is a consequence to gobbling up this beautiful creature. It contains toxic and distasteful substance that will make a bird vomit immediately. Now, that’s a great defence mechanism!

Foxes have a plan to outsmart scavenging birds. First, they roll in mud to make themselves look like mangy mutts. Then, they lay down beside a road to ‘play dead’. When a bird flies down, instead of scoring some ‘road kill’ they find that they’re lunch!