Follow my Tweets
Please don’t wake the tiger
Tiger, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
During our visit to Taronga Zoo in Sydney last year we had good views of the tiger shown in the photo above. I was carrying my 19 month old grandson at the time and he delighted in growling like a tiger while pointing at the animal – much to the amusement of the many people nearby. I was amazed at how low his growl was, considering his age. We had a good laugh about it. Fortunately the tiger slept on.
On my trip to Nepal in 2006 I went on an elephant safari ride through the jungle in Chitwan National Park in the south of the country. Although there are tigers in this area, sightings are quite rare. By way of compensation for not seeing one, we had excellent views of several rhinos, as well as many other animals and birds.
Further reading:
- Travels in Nepal - an archive of articles about my time in Nepal
- Tigers in Nepal
Himalayan Tahr, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Himalayan Tahr, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
One of the animals featured on exhibit at Taronga Zoo in Sydney is the Himalayan Tahr, a close relative of the wild goat. I like seeing these animals for they remind me of the wonderful experiences I had when I trekked in Nepal a few years ago. I was fortunate to be able to see this animal in its wild state in the mountains there.
Further reading:
Himalayan Tahr, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Happy Birthday to my blog
No Comments »6th March, 2010; Category: Australia, Nepal, New South Wales, South Australia, Thailand, Victoria
Ama Dablam, Nepal
This blog about my travels is now four years old.
I started this blog exactly four years ago in the dining room of my son in Sydney. He had just set up the domain name and busily went about teaching me how to blog. He was a good teacher for I was soon off and away with blog entries. And I haven’t let up in the intervening years. I try to post every day but during the last two years I have also been trying to complete my Master of Arts in Creative Writing which has impacted on how frequently I have been able to write articles here. I’m also in the last stages of completing the writing of a novel for children as part of those studies. It has all taken a lot of my time.
During the life of this blog I have written about many places, including a visit to Thailand and trekking in Nepal. By far the majority of the nearly 600 articles are as a result of travelling here in Australia, including New South Wales, Victoria, Australian Capital Territory and my home state of South Australia of course.
I’d like to thank all my many regular readers, those who have occasionally dipped into various pages and especially those who have taken the trouble to leave comments. I value you all – you people make this blog a worthwhile endeavour.
A special thanks to my son Sim’ who looks after the background administration of this and my other blogs, keeping them ticking over nicely.
Mt Lofty Botanic Gardens
Silver Pheasant, Central Zoo, Kathmandu
Silver Pheasant, Central Zoo, Kathmandu
On my visit to the Central Zoo in Kathmandu I was interested to see some of the animal and bird species I had missed seeing out in their natural habitat. One of these species was the beautiful Silver Pheasant. This species is widespread in mountain forests of south east Asia, including Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam as well as China.
It is a widespread and common species in its natural habitat. It has also become a common species kept by aviculturalists.
I was disappointed that the above photo was spoiled by the wire mesh of the cage. Many exhibits in the Kathmandu Zoo are spoiled in this way.
Kalij Pheasant, Central Zoo, Kathmandu
Kalij Pheasant, Central Zoo, Kathmandu
One of the birds I saw on my visit to the Central Zoo in Kathmandu was this Kalij Pheasant. It was actually labelled “Kaliz Pheasant” but I assume they meant the former. Some of the other labels also showed variations in spelling of species names.
I am not at all familiar with the species and haven’t seen it in the wild. My research has shown me that this pheasant is native to the northern parts of the Indian sub-continent, particularly the slopes of the Himalayas in Nepal. I didn’t have the opportunity to see this species in its natural habitat during my stay in Nepal.
I have also discovered that this species is widely kept by aviculturalists and that there are several distinct races.