After the Butterfly Garden, we went to the 'Dancing Crane Cafe', had pizza, sandwiches and pina colada slush (yumm!!). The next on the list was the Congo Gorilla Forest.
Congo Gorilla Forest - The first animal we saw was a 'Mandrill', found in the Tropical rain-forests of Cameroon, Gabon and it looked very different from the usual baboons, because of its colorful face. And one can easily make out that mandrills are from Africa, by looking at their red-white striped face. There was a mandrill baby named Gertrude also in the exhibit. The next one was a surprisingly unusual animal Okapi, as it had zebra stripes on half of its body and the other half resembled horse. This one definitely seemed like it had come from a fantasy land. It was standing still and looked picture perfect with the surroundings. According to facts, Okapi is found in the rain forests of Congo and belongs to the family of Giraffes and not Zebra. They were almost unknown till 1900 and presently there are only 25000 Okapi in the wild (that's less).
Okapi in the Woods
Next was the main attraction of the Congo Exhibit, the 'Gorillas', the largest living primates. There were some 7-10 gorillas, which were visible and most of them were sitting and staring. When we went close to the wall, they also came near to the wall and imitated by waving hands, that was so much fun. Some interesting facts we got to know were - they walk on their knuckles and are very expressive (that we already saw). They live up to the age of 50 or more and are considered very intelligent. They are usually shy and peaceful. We also saw the 'Pygmy Marmosets', world's smallest monkeys. They are 5 inches tall and are found in the Amazon basin in Brazil, Peru and Equador. And interestingly, they produce an ultrasonic cry to express hostility, which humans can't hear.
World of Reptiles - With Turtles, Frogs, Snakes and Alligators - it was scray. Frogs are exhibited right when one enters the building. The first ones were tiny 'Khiansi Spray Toads', they are almost the size of a penny, almost three-quarters of an inch. They are yellow in colour and extremely tiny, to be visible in the tank. There were so many of them, and looked like ants crawling everywhere. They were discovered in 1996 around Khiansi and Mhalala waterfalls in Tanzania, so the name also comes from there. Moreover, it is now listed as an extinct species in the wild.
Then we saw the Heaviest Snake in the World (any guesses), yes!! the 'Anaconda', it can weigh up to 800 pounds (whopping!!). Its a semi-aquatic reptile and gobbles up enormous preys like caimans and deers; and after large meals they may not have to eat again for weeks. The other big shot reptile we saw, was the 'King Cobra'. Also known as the World's Largest Venomous Snake, it feeds on other snakes including cobra and its strong venom helps in digestion. Usually around 13 feet in length, they are found in India and Southeast Asian countries. There were many other snakes also in the exhibit, the green snake and tiny ones too.
After this we went to see the 'Alligator Snapping Turtle' also known as the Dinosaur of the Turtle World and they have been around for more than 20 million years. It feeds on fishes, frogs, other turtles and small alligators too. It looked really huge in the enclosure. Then there was a Snake Neck Turtle, Radiated Turtle and some tiny turtles which were crawling in and out of the water. The other enclosure had the scariest of them all- the Alligators. The 'American Alligator' and the 'Nile Crocodile', both looked huge and bulky and of course scary too.
Next was the main attraction of the Congo Exhibit, the 'Gorillas', the largest living primates. There were some 7-10 gorillas, which were visible and most of them were sitting and staring. When we went close to the wall, they also came near to the wall and imitated by waving hands, that was so much fun. Some interesting facts we got to know were - they walk on their knuckles and are very expressive (that we already saw). They live up to the age of 50 or more and are considered very intelligent. They are usually shy and peaceful. We also saw the 'Pygmy Marmosets', world's smallest monkeys. They are 5 inches tall and are found in the Amazon basin in Brazil, Peru and Equador. And interestingly, they produce an ultrasonic cry to express hostility, which humans can't hear.
World of Reptiles - With Turtles, Frogs, Snakes and Alligators - it was scray. Frogs are exhibited right when one enters the building. The first ones were tiny 'Khiansi Spray Toads', they are almost the size of a penny, almost three-quarters of an inch. They are yellow in colour and extremely tiny, to be visible in the tank. There were so many of them, and looked like ants crawling everywhere. They were discovered in 1996 around Khiansi and Mhalala waterfalls in Tanzania, so the name also comes from there. Moreover, it is now listed as an extinct species in the wild.
Then we saw the Heaviest Snake in the World (any guesses), yes!! the 'Anaconda', it can weigh up to 800 pounds (whopping!!). Its a semi-aquatic reptile and gobbles up enormous preys like caimans and deers; and after large meals they may not have to eat again for weeks. The other big shot reptile we saw, was the 'King Cobra'. Also known as the World's Largest Venomous Snake, it feeds on other snakes including cobra and its strong venom helps in digestion. Usually around 13 feet in length, they are found in India and Southeast Asian countries. There were many other snakes also in the exhibit, the green snake and tiny ones too.
After this we went to see the 'Alligator Snapping Turtle' also known as the Dinosaur of the Turtle World and they have been around for more than 20 million years. It feeds on fishes, frogs, other turtles and small alligators too. It looked really huge in the enclosure. Then there was a Snake Neck Turtle, Radiated Turtle and some tiny turtles which were crawling in and out of the water. The other enclosure had the scariest of them all- the Alligators. The 'American Alligator' and the 'Nile Crocodile', both looked huge and bulky and of course scary too.