Orangutan, Female, 2013 |
I spent a couple of mornings at Gembira Loka Zoo. It was much more enjoyable than I expected. My main interest was to photograph the orang-utan and the Komodo monitors. Unfortunately for me, well-fed animals prefer to lie in the shade doing nothing, not pose for photographers.
My favourites were the orang-utan. They were very gentle and much of their behaviour was very human-like. If you are visiting Yogya, I recommend a visit to the zoo. The best time is early on a quiet weekday. |
Orangutan, Female, 2013 |
I was fascinated to see this female use the tyre as a bucket. She took it to the water's edge,
dipped it in until it filled with water, pulled it out then took it away to have a drink, a wash then poured the
remains over her head. She then went back to refill it.
This behaviour puzzles me. I have read many reports on the media about animals using tools and making a big thing of such animal intelligence. This orangutan did it and it was not a big issue. |
Female orangutan. |
This young orangutan was my favourite. He played like a child and nagged his mother to play too. |
I like this shot, but everyone gets it wrong. They think it shows that the orang-utan have
bad living conditions. They have reasonable conditions. They are simply looking out of their window.
The room behind the window is probably bigger than the hotel room I had, and they had a big outdoor enclosure.
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The chimpanzees were not the cute, adorable juveniles that people are used to seeing. To me, they seemed very aggressive, a big difference to the gentle orang-utan.
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Small-clawed Otters, 2014 They were a delight to watch. They were so cute and playful. |
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Northern Cassowary, (Casuarius unappendiculatus). |
Southern, or Australian, Cassowary |
I saw two different types of cassowary, and I am confused which is which. One has a red neck with a what appears to be a small single wattle, the other a blue neck with two red wattles.
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Lesser Adjutant (Leptoptilos javanicus) Surely the ugliest bird in the world. |
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Rhinoceros Hornbill, (Buceros rhinoceros) |
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Pelican, (Pelecanus conspicillatus).
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Buffy Fish Owl, (Bubo ketupu) |
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Emerald Tree Monitor (Varanus prasinus) |
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Saltwater Crocodile |
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False Gharials |
Burmese(?) Python |
Blood Python. If a dog found that in his food bowl, he'd get a shock ;-) |
"Maps of Indonesia" |