Here's Timon in the flesh...er, fur: He sure does swivel around alot!: Here's Bambi mid-sentence...he seemed to want to get out of there - they had him penned in with the kangaroos and those huge, scary African vultures! Here's Mr. Komodo...he hasn't been featured in a Disney movie yet. I guess he's not adorable enough for the kids...but I still like him: Shhh! Don't tell anyone, but looks like Tigger's got a mate. How cute they are together: Just a few animal shots from along the forest trails at AK.
Here's Mr. Komodo...he hasn't been featured in a Disney movie yet. I guess he's not adorable enough for the kids...but I still like him: Actually, wasn't there one in "Rescuers down under?"
I don't think so...Rescuers Down Under had Joanna the Goanna, and Frank the Frill-Necked Lizard. Goannas are probably cousins of the much larger komodo, though!
Youre right Justin, they sure do swivel around a lot. They are very twitchy. As nervous as they are, I 'm suprised they will sit on that rock so close to us tourists. [This attachment has been purged. Older attachments are purged from time to time to conserve disk space. Please feel free to repost your image.]
I'm very interested in that, actually. I find it interesting that while they still engage in their instinctive predator lookout behavior, they can adapt to a creature that I'd expect would normally rate an alarm call followed up by lots of scampering into the tunnels in the wild. The combination of humanization plus residual instinct fascinates me. At my zoo they may actually be closer to the audience, but they're no more concerned about us. Maybe they look at us on occasion, but I don't see our movements concerning them significantly. I think they're to the point where people=food to them. But they STILL keep a guard on watch at all times.
The other morning the main guard was on top of the termite mound. One or two others looked around occasionally at ground level, but the one on the mound kept a relatively low profile.
A few times, I've noticed the high guard wasn't on the rock outcrop where he usually is - every once in a while they switch up their locations...and the high guard was standing about 5 feet to the left of the rock outcrop, at the top of the ridge. The ones below were busy digging holes. They are highly entertaining though - I can see how Discovery Channel decided to make a series about them. Though most of the AK employees will tell you that they are much more fun from a distance as a casual observer - that up close, they can get a bit nasty.
