WA Reptile Park Excursion
On the 21st of September, 2020, the Year 8 Enrichment class went on an excursion to the Western Australian Reptile Park and Yagan Memorial in the Swan Valley. We learnt about different types of reptile/animals and how to safely handle them if we encountered them in the wild. We also learnt first aid and what to do if we got bitten by snake.
The first reptile that we learnt about was the blue tongue lizard. The Eastern Blue Tongue lizard is one of the most familiar reptiles in Australia. Large species can reach 60cm in total length. The legs are very small and can often be overlooked, a situation which sometimes means the harmless blue tongue, with its large triangular head, can be mistaken for a dangerous snake and often killed.
Afterwards we got to hold snakes and one of them was an Olive Python. This beautiful smooth skinned snake is light to dark with olive-brown scales, with a white or cream underbelly. The Olive Python can grow up to 4 metres, making it Australia's second largest snake species.
When everyone had a turn of holding the small, medium and large snakes, we got to pet a dingo named 'Blondie.' We learnt that dingoes are not a species of dogs, but they belong to the wolf family, because they howl, not bark like dogs do.
Purebred Australian desert dingos are becoming rarer in the wild. Feral domestic dogs can interbreed with dingos a process which effectively dilutes the genetic uniqueness of this animal. The dingo is a medium-sized dog weighing in at 15-20kg.
We also had a tour around the park to see the different types of animals such as turtles, crocodiles, wombats, dingos and birds.
One of the caretakers of the reptile park told us that feeding the snakes live mice is illegal and a special license is needed to import exotic reptiles from other countries, like the Komodo Dragon.
We ended our trip visiting the Yagan Memorial Park and learnt about Yagan and the need for reconciliation to better understand Aboriginal culture and history.
Authors: Allison Ngakiri and Abbey Rasmussen - Year 8 Enrichment Students 2020
