Several thousand Zagreb residents and their guests participated in the 14th edition of the Australia at the Zagreb Zoo event. The children, accompanied by their parents and grandparents, were interested in learning about the wonderful flora and fauna and the life of people on the smallest continent in the world.
The program, which was organised in cooperation with the Australian Embassy in the Republic of Croatia, included numerous workshops, games and sporting activities. Visiting the various stalls, visitors learned which Australian animals are endangered and what is being done to protect them. They learned the basics of cricket and Australian football, painted pictures of Australian animals and tasted ANZAC biscuits. By visiting the Australian themed stalls, they discovered which states and territories Australia consists of.
Visitors showed great interest for the new inhabitants of the Zoo – wallaroos.
A pair of wallaroos, also known as hill kangaroos, arrived in Zagreb recently. It is a species that is very rare in this part of the world. The Zagreb Zoo has become the eighth zoo in Europe where these marsupials are bred.
“I congratulate the Zagreb Zoo on the hundredth anniversary of its founding, which it celebrates this year! We have been cooperating with the zoo for 14 years, organizing the Australia at the Zagreb Zoo event. It is also an opportunity to present Australian animals that live here. The zoo has just received wallaroos, and we are giving the Zoo three Australian plants: eucalyptus, bottlebrush and cordyline” – said Richard Rodgers, Australian Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia, in advance of the annual event at which his country is presented to the people of Croatia.
The Australian plants were planted next to the Australian animal enclosure. In this dwelling, along with the newly arrived wallaroos, live swamp wallabies and emus.
“We are proud to be able to present a piece of Australian wilderness in the heart of Zagreb! The wallaroos quickly adapted to the new living quarters and the animals with which they share it. They get along well with each other. The couple is included in the breeding program, so I hope that in the future we will be able to boast of their offspring” – said Ivan Cizelj, director of the Zagreb Zoo.
The Australian Embassy and the employees of the Zoo are happy that this year’s Australia at the Zagreb Zoo event was extremely successful, and they are already thinking how to enrich next year’s event.
- Press release: Ustanova Zoološki vrt Grada Zagreba – Zoological Garden of Zagreb