On the 7th of August, all year sevens and eights went to Orana Park.
The day started with us waiting for the busses outside of school. When the buses got there we got on them in classes and then we went off to Orana Park. Once we got there we waited forever to be sorted out into our groups. Finally, we got split into two big groups which were the groups we ate in and the group we were in at the start for the Zoo keeper to talk to us about health and safety for our well being.
Then we split into three different groups from our big groups and went off on our adventure.
The first thing we want to see where the gorillas, they recommended putting all males in the same place. The oldest Fataki is a silverback gorilla and then there is Fuzu and his step- brother Mahali. One thing I learned from seeing them was that they can't stand on to feet for very long, it is pretty much us human doing a handstand.
We then went to see the giraffes. We then sat down and the Zoo keeper we were with spoke to us about them and then we got into a line and she handed up some giraffe food. Then we walked up the steps and got into another line and then feed them. There were three of them but two walked away as they all had already eater some food. The only giraffe that stayed was the only one that was born at Orana Park.
After that, we went to see the Meerkats, Bisons, Buffaloes, Tigers, Lions, Kiwis, Lizards, Cheetahs, Rhinos and much more. With the Rhinos we got to hold the horn. Somethings I found out about them is that they have to position their own horn for it to grow up instead of down when their young and that their horns are made from something called Keratin which is a protein found in fingernails and hair.
I had a really fun time there seeing all different animals and actually learning something about each and every one of them. My favourite thing about the experience we had there was lunch time and when we saw the gorillas because they are so smart and pretty similar to human.
Thank you, Orana for having us.
Meadow Hauraki
