One day, when the next generation asks us how we made it through the iso era of 2020, our unanimous answer will be: “livestreams of animals”. From parades of penguins waddling through empty walkways that would normally be bustling with people to tortoises trudging along, there’s no denying the comfort of creatures.
Zoos and aquariums around the world are providing animal enrichment for us stay-at-home captives and our own Wild Life Sydney Zoo and Sea Life Sydney Aquarium are dishing out the goods. Every week these Darling Harbour attractions are beaming their finest ambassadors to our devices.
To celebrate the fact that very soon zoos, aquariums and wildlife centres will be able to open their doors to visitors again, Wild Life Sydney Zoo let out their cheekiest resident, Davey the quokka, for a tour on the weekend where he hopped around and met his fellow zoo residents with keeper Renee.
This week over on the Wild Life Sydney Zoo Facebook page you can hop to it like Davey and learn what it is like to spend a day in the life of a zookeeper caring for a Tasmanian devil (Tuesday, May 26, 10.30am); then later in the week you can learn what it is like to care for one of the world's most dangerous birds, Princess the cassowary (Thursday, May 28, 10.30am); and join keeper Justine for a storytime with Wombat Jumped Over the Moon by Lachlan Creagh (Friday, May 29, 10.30am).
Over at the Aquarium, you can get up close and personal with their adorable penguins as you learn all about their home at the aquarium (Thursday, May 28, 2.30pm).
Check in on the Facebook pages for Wild Life Sydney Zoo and Sea Life Sydney Aquarium each Monday morning to see what’s in store for the week. These pages are also where you can catch these critters live and watch back previous livestreams.
The videos are also housed online on the Merlin Education Toolbox, where teachers and parents can also trawl for educational activities and videos for kids under isolation.