Linwood College

On the 11th of June, Year 7 and 8 students got the incredible opportunity to visit Orana Park. Linwood College student Summer Pool gives us her account of the trip:

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Everyone was excited, lots of chatter and eager people to get on the bus for the ride!

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On the bus ride, I was quite excited seeing as I hadn't been to Orana Park in years, and I heard a few new animals had been introduced, which was super exciting.

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We arrived around 9:30, and it felt awesome being at Orana Park. Shortly after we walked to our meeting point and set our bags and things down, we then got separated into class groups.

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Then we got introduced to the staff who would be showing us around for the day. And we got a lovely lady named Sarah.

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For a few hours we walked around, and some of the animals I recall seeing were: African wild dogs, gorillas, orangutans, cheetahs, Southern white rhinos, and we got to feed the giraffes!

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After that, we had some lunch and we continued to our next spots.

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We went to the bird-farm enclosure and we ended up seeing: keas, peacocks, roosters, llamas, and emus. We continued on to the lion enclosure and saw a pride of lions, lazing about. And they looked awesome!

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Then we headed off and got to see a tiger, and trust me they look cooler in real life than in the pictures.

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After that, we got to see 3 monkeys playing outside, and they all started to pee! Silly monkeys they are. Then we waddled off to see the meerkats and porcupines. Meerkats are so cute, standing on their little feet, so adorable!

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Then we went to our meeting area and got to look at a real cheetah's skull, a lion's skull, and a replica of a gorilla's skull.

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Then we sadly had to leave to go back to school at around 1:30, which I was super sad about, but I was pretty tired by then.

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I learned that it was one of the orangutan's birthday when we saw it. Orana Park also tries their hardest to make their animals feel safe, and not stressed in their environment. They also feed the carnivores carcasses because it's good for their dental hygiene and their stomach. These animals find it easier to digest carcasses, which is interesting to me.

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If I had to choose a favourite animal to see, it was a hard choice but the giraffes and gorillas were definitely spectacular animals to learn about.

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I personally would like to thank the staff at Orana Park, and Linwood College for allowing everyone to have an opportunity like this. 

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Summer Pool