Monarto Safari Park - Part 1

Monarto Safari Park, formerly known as Monarto Zoological Park and Monarto Zoo, is a 1,500-hectare open-range zoo located in South Australia administered by the Royal Zoological Society of South Australia. It is located at Monarto, approximately 70 kilometers from Adelaide's center. 

Recently we purchased a one-year membership to Adelaide Zoo. Monarto is part of the Adelaide Zoo system. Our day will consist of four parts: the Lion 360 experience, lunch, the Monarto Zoo experience (a ride through the paddocks of the safari park), and the Rhino experience. 

I will post the lion and rhino experiences separately. 

Although the picture make it look like the cheetah is in a cage as if in a zoo, they are in huge paddocks as if in the wild. What looks like a cage is the wire separating them (wild animals) from us.

I could have taken this picture at the safari park or in Tanzania or Kenya.

Monarto has recently had a baby rhino born and her she is.

Is it a Zebra or a ZEbra. The debate which began on our trip with Bronwyn and Neil to Africa, continues to rage. Once again we fall back on the original explanation.  A zebra is black with white stripes and a ZEbra is white with black stripes. Or is it the other way around.

We are visiting Monarto with Bronwyn, her son Tom's mother-in-law, Tom's wife and Tom's sister -in-law.

A guided bus ride is the best way to navigate Monarto Safari Park. That said, there are miles of walking trails.

We photographed a most photogenic Meerkat at the Adelaide Zoo. The ones here are equally cute.

The Meerkat is the cutest and most photogenic of the animals.

At Monarto, you board a bus and it proceeds from one huge paddock to the next through a series of radio controlled gates. For the less worrisome animals it is a single gate.  For more bothersome animals, the gates are a double lock where you pass through one gate into a neutral zone and once safely locked in the neutral zone let yourself out the other side.

Entering and exiting the lion paddock, one passes through a double lock. They take no chances with the meat eaters. 

In the visitor center is this rhino sculpture.