Auckland Zoo!

Yesterday room 1&2 went for an amazing trip to Auckland Zoo! We had this trip because we have been learning about Endangered animals and this was the perfect place to learn more information.

We left at 9:20am and took the half an hour drive to the Auckland Zoo. By the time we got there it was morning tea time. After the morning tea we split into our groups of 5 people and started trouping around the zoo. We saw lots of animals in the first half an hour like the Red Pandas, Otters, Tigers, Baboons, Orangutan's and much, much more. Just before lunch time, we went and watched the Red pandas and the Otters getting fed. I learnt that the Otters like eating sea food like shrimps and that around 97% of the Red Pandas diet was bamboo and the other 3 percent is things like grass and seeds!

After lunch we split. Groups 1-5 went to learn about tracking and groups 7-10 went to learn about palm oil. At the palm oil station we learnt about deforestation and animals losing their homes in the forests.The activities we did in this station were trying to open jars and bags with out a thumb (because this is what an Orangutan has to do). 

Here are some products which contain palm oil 

At the tracking station we had to work in buddies and use the tracking tunnels to identify what foot prints goes with what animal and if they are pests or pals. After that we went for an other little walk around the zoo and we saw the 14 golden Lion Tamerin getting fed by a zoo keeper. She fed them bananas, pear and carrots. The zoo keepers has to memorize all the names of the animals it looks after! After that we took the bus back to school. It was an awesome trip!

What I learnt:

• An Orangutan is 97% like us!
• 1 out of every 10 products in the super market contains palm oil.
• Palm oil is not bad for you but it is not good because it causes deforestation.
• People use tracking tunnels so they can learn what animals live on the island.
• How a tracking tunnel works is someone puts ink in the middle if a black tube. On the other side they put peanut butter. When the creature walks through the tunnel to get the peanut butter it walks through the ink and leaves tracks.
• A hedgehog is a pest

Here are some pictures and videos:

Us at the otter enclosure

Palm oil station

Us at the tracking station