Sustainability at Monarto Zoo

We went to Monarto Safari Park for an excursion for sustainability. The thing I learnt was that the sustainability at the park was very big to make the animals feel like they’re at home. The thing that I also learnt was that they have a box there that you put your old phones in. They will take out the coltan metal because in Africa they collect coltan to make phones, they have to mine to get the coltan for the phones, which means they have to chop down trees, Monarto are trying to stop that so they can save the chimpanzees.

My favourite animals there were the chimpanzees, especially the baby. The mamma of the baby was cleaning it. The chimpanzees were doing some acrobatics on the hoop together. The other thing I liked was the Meerkats. There was a tunnel from habitat to habitat. We also got to be zookeepers. We scooped up yellow-footed rock wallabies' poo and got to go into a special area in the yellow-footed rock wallabies' enclosure. When we went on the safari park bus we saw some giraffes, they were eating and an ostrich was with them too. One of the painted dogs came super close to the bus. We saw three lion brothers all side by side. We also saw hyenas. My class won against the other class with how much yellow-footed rock wallaby poo we scooped up. When we saw the chimpanzees we got to see the baby and kid chimpanzees eating. We also got to see the other chimpanzees drinking, grooming each other and resting. We also saw some rhinos. We got two class photos, one in front of the animal wall and another at the upside-down rhino statue. We also saw some cheetahs.

By Lily 4/5B

On the 17th of October, we went to Monarto Zoo and learnt so much! Sustainability is a very big part of life for the animals and people at Monarto Zoo. If you are an animal living at a zoo wouldn’t life be great? The answer depends on their habitat as well as what they are given.

Keepers have a big job caring for the animals and maintaining their living environment, which includes cleaning out their poop, making sure they are fed and watered and making sure their habitat is a replica of what it might be in the wild. You have to be very careful at a zoo because even intruders could come here! Other animals such as rabbits and foxes might try to take things like food and hiding places. If you work at a zoo you have to be able to sustain the animal's equipment, e.g. if a chimpanzee ripped a hole in the netting of its swing the maintenance group at the zoo would either replace it or fix it.

I really enjoyed seeing the African Painted Dogs (there is a picture above) right up close because they seemed so curious and cautious at the same time. They know how to defend themselves but at the same time, they are so cute and just look like a harmless house dog. I would’ve loved to learn more about the White Rhinos because they seem like such interesting animals! They have horrible eyesight but great hearing! I was very intrigued about how Ostriches are raised, the females lay the eggs but then leave and it’s the males’ job to raise them and care for them. I had an amazing day here at Monarto Zoo and can’t wait to come here again!

By Freya 4/5 B

Yesterday we went to Monarto Zoo. We got to have a look at all the different types of animals. My favourite two were the chimpanzees and the meerkats. The rhinos have bad eyesight and have to keep their head very low to the ground because they need to smell around so then they don’t bump into anything. They also have less population because of their horns.

People like to kill them and cut their horns, they then sell them for lots of money. Even a little chunk can be worth lots. We also got to go to the yellow-footed rock wallaby’s enclosure to learn about what it’s like to be a zookeeper. We got to pick up the poop and we had a competition with Mrs Taylor’s class who could pick up the most poop. I also learnt about the antelopes. They have a special part in their coat that they use for air conditioning. They trap cold air in there and throughout the day it keeps them nice and cool because they live in the dry desert.

Throughout the day I had so much fun and I wish we could go back there again. I liked watching the chimpanzees go around and seeing what they do in their daily life. Another one of my favourite things was getting to go on the Safari bus and have a look at all the different types of animals I thought that was a very cool experience.

By Amber 4/5 B

On Tuesday we went to Monarto Safari Park as part of our sustainability unit. The staff there taught us many things about habitat, animals and food and about sustainability that we will remember.

Up at the Chimpanzee enclosure, they have a box where you can recycle your devices. The reason that they recycle them is because inside a mobile phone there is a material called coltan. They find coltan in the ground so they have to mine it and destroy an animal’s habitat. If you donate a phone then you are saving an animal's life. At Monarto they have an animal restoration program that they use to increase the numbers of endangered animals and sustain the ecosystem. When they do this they have to put them in the spot where they were before. The reason these animals get endangered is because of introduced species like cats that hunt other animals. Before they put them back they have to kill all the introduced species so that the other animals will survive.

There are a lot of rules for a great habitat. They told us that in a habitat they can’t put animals in one enclosure that eat the same food because they will fight for it. Male rhinos are separate from the females but chimpanzees work together and aren’t separated. For reasons like this, they have to do a lot of research on their behaviour and habitat. To sustain the animals’ good health they have to clean the habitats (scoop up poop etc.) so that diseases don’t spread.

We had an amazing time and learned so much! The staff were wonderful and inspiring. We hope to go back again.

4/5B in front of the upside-down Rhino By Flossie 4/5B