We did some computer work in the morning before heading down to Victor Harbor. We had a choice of wildlife parks to visit and decided on Urimbirra (http://urimbirra.com.au/) since it was a bit cheaper and we hadn't been further south yet. We ate lunch in Victor Harbor before heading back to the wildlife park, which has more than 70 species of Australian fauna in their natural surroundings.The paths through Urimbirra allowed us to see the animals at close range throughout the 16-hectare site (about 40 acres). We wanted to be there for the koala feeding at 1400 and made it in plenty of time. Before seeing the cute bears, we wandered through an aviary with rainbow lorikeets that dive bombed us (one even sat on Anna's head!). Since it was a cool day (about 9°C or 18°F cooler than yesterday), the koalas weren't that active. Three of them didn't budge even when the caretaker rustled fresh gum and eucalyptus leaves nearby. Another two bears were in shorter trees and we could get close-up photos and pet them (yay!). The caretaker warned us to pet only their back as the bears didn't like movements near their ears or bellies. We had great fun with this and spent a good 20 minutes with the bears.
We continued to wander over the grounds checking out other animals and feeding red kangaroos. They were surprisingly gentle as they munched food pellets from our hands; however, several of them were quite possessive and grabbed our hands with the four-toed front paws to keep the food source nearby. The adult 'roos were shoulder height while the youngsters came up to our thighs or bellies. We made sure to wash the 'roo spit off our hands before exiting the park. Although most of the animals could roam freely, there were several birds (especially the larger birds of prey) that were confined. We were glad to see the more dangerous animals in these enclosures (mainly the crocodiles and wombats), but wish all the animals could have as much freedom as the kangaroos, wallabies, emus, and others. The emus were pretty tame, but we still didn't try to pet them as their beaks looked like they could do some damage. We kept a respectable distance from the cassowaries as they are notoriously short-tempered. There were nuermous pea fowl – the peacocks' tail feathers were not on display as they usually mate in the spring. We also saw plenty of cockatoos, parrots, and other similar birds. You can find more info about Rainbow Lorikeets, Black Cockatoos, Galah, Emu, Cassowaries, and other birds with this link: http://www.birdlife.org.au/search/birds. This link (http://www.australianfauna.com/) has info on other interesting critters that we saw in the park, such as echidna (spiny anteater) and spotted tail quoll.
