Animal Antics

Out There magazine - Summer 2004

We’re given the spiel before we set off on our Zoo Venture Tour, the newest thrill for visitors to Canberra’s National Zoo and Aquarium. “Don’t get too close to the fence. If the animal grabs your finger, it can pull your whole arm in. Think your arm can’t fit through the fence? Well the bone does; the rest just gets peeled back to your shoulder.” With that grim news, our group of 10 intrepid souls sets off for a behind-the-scenes tour of the zoo, lured by the chance to get up close and personal with the big cats. Thankfully, we’re still separated by fence, but it’s a great experience being allowed to get so close. There’s nothing quite like looking into the mouth of a lion or a tiger, but the biggest thrill of all is passing a piece of chicken through the wire and judging just how close you’re prepared to let your fingers get to it (I chose the longest piece of chicken I could find).

We start with the pumas, which look like cute cats but can easily kill a human. One of them eyeballs me and licks its chops as I stand back and let my fellow group members do the work. The black and white Colobus monkeys are more my style and they even look up with gratitude when I give them some grapes. The fork that is used to feed chicken rice to the Malayan sunbear, Arataki, also gives me a measure of comfort, despite the knowledge that this is the most aggressive of all bears. I’m wary of the lion – its paws and teeth are so big! – but by the time we get to the tiger, I finally pluck up the courage to have a go at feeding it myself. It’s a great buzz but it’s even more exciting to see the tiger at such close-range. It’s such a striking looking animal.

Held every day from 3.30pm to 5pm, the Zoo Venture Tour costs $95 on weekdays, $110 on weekends, and there is a less intimidating version for children which costs $45 on weekdays and $55 on weekends. There’s no doubt that this is the most enterprising venture so far by zoo owner, Richard Tindale, who yearned to buy a tiger and found that the only solution was to buy a zoo. In 1998, Tindale was negotiating to set up a breeding facility for big cats when a small wildlife park and aquarium in Canberra came on the market. The park had had mixed fortunes throughout the 90s, but with his family pitching in to help and a huge injection of his own funds, he has turned the National Zoo and Aquarium into one of the most exciting attractions of its kind.

Now, as the owner of Australia’s largest collection of big cats, Tindale has not just the tiger he wanted but lions, snow leopards, cheetahs, pumas and Australia’s only tigons, a cross between a tiger and a lion. He also has bears, monkeys, otters, numerous Australian native animals, sharks, fish, eels, turtles and crustaceans. It’s like a boy’s own adventure for the man who has loved animals ever since he was a kid and spent his adulthood travelling to exotic destinations like the Amazon, Siberia, Nepal and Africa, always with the faint hope of seeing animals in the wild. Apart from Africa, it was generally fruitless, prompting him to try to do something to help the world’s endangered species. “There were eight sub-species of tigers at the turn of last century. Four have been wiped out and three are likely to go,” he cites as an example. “The Bengal tiger is the only one likely to survive.”

Apart from wanting to set up a breeding program for endangered species, Tindale had another motivation - to establish a retirement home for big cats from circuses and private collections. Through his interest in endangered animals, he learned that once animals have finished performing in a circus, they often don’t have anywhere to go. These animals don’t necessarily make the best display animals as they are usually old and have spent their lives confined to small spaces. But Tindale is thrilled to be able to give them a home – “their natures have changed so much since they’ve been here” – and he has grown particularly fond of Smokey, a 26-year-old spotted leopard. “He’s the oldest recorded leopard we can find and he’s still agile.” Also refugees from private collections are the tigons, Asta and Tangiere, born to a tiger father and lion mother. It’s a cross that does not occur naturally, and Tindale says no zoo would breed them, but they would have been put down if he had not taken them. “They are incredibly affectionate and have been very content since they’ve been here.” Like a parent being asked to name a favourite child, Tindale won’t play favourites but those he has bonded most closely with include Smokey, an ex-circus tiger named Torda, the European brown bears and the lovable sun bear.

The bears, all 19 big cats, the zebra and even the otters – much loved by visitors because they are always busy doing something – recognize Richard by his uniform, his walk and his voice. When he and his wife, Maureen, took over the business, two of their six children had backgrounds in aquaculture. Andrew’s passion had always been fish and Shelley was a commercial diver. Sharron and Ryan worked in the hospitality industry and Tindale thought they could look after functions. Instead, all four fell in love with the animals, Ryan spending all his time with the carnivores and Shelley with the koalas and other native animals. Maureen takes care of tour bookings, reception and some of the feeding, while two remaining daughters work elsewhere. It’s a delight to watch the family at work, seeing the close rapport they have with the animals and the impressive amount of work they have done to improve the landscaping and infrastructure, giving the animals spacious and natural-looking enclosures using moats and low-level fences.

Of the 34 endangered species at the zoo, several are involved in breeding programs, including lions Kimba and Millie, who last year became parents to Chaka, Sabi and Marjan, the first big cats born in Canberra. Breeding programs, rather than what animals people want to see, are the guiding factor for today’s zoos. “Zoos don’t exist anymore for people’s entertainment. It’s education and conservation now. One of our roles is to educate the public so that future generations will take more care than past generations have. Sure, people can enjoy it, but it’s a by-product.” Tindale says it took two years to establish credibility and in that time they received only four emus, but their hard work has paid off and zoos in Perth, Adelaide and New Zealand have since provided them with a tiger, bear and other animals from their breeding programs. Tindale wants to breed more big cats, and has his hopes pinned on Berani, a young male tiger from the critically endangered Sumatran sub-species.

“My main motive now is to get to the point where we’ll see some of our cats and other species reintroduced in the wild. I hope it happens in my lifetime.” To heighten people’s experience during their zoo visit, the Tindales have introduced a number of tours in addition to the Zoo Venture Tour. All include all-day zoo entry. The one and a half hour Animal Action Tour, which begins daily at 7.30am, is “basically people seeing what we see every day”, says Tindale. With the animals at their liveliest and hungriest, they can be seen swimming, running, stalking and eagerly devouring their food. It costs $40 for adults and $29 for children on weekdays; and $49/$35 on weekends. Most exciting of all is the Meet A Cheetah experience, where visitors get to pat and play with the cheetahs. Although the fastest land animal in the world, these cheetahs are hand-raised and the friendliest of the big cats. “With the cheetahs, we can take people in [to the enclosures] and get them out again.” Only two people are allowed into the enclosure at a time, each accompanied by an experienced zookeeper. There’s been huge interest from people willing to pay $150 for this 15-minute thrill. “If you have a passion for cats, it’s all about being in there with them. It’s a combination of adrenalin rush and the emotional attachment of being in there with them. I do it every day and I never get sick of it, and nor does my son Ryan.”

Tindale knows of only one other place in Australia where visitors can get close to a big cat, on Tiger Island at Queensland’s Dreamworld. One of his prized possessions is a photo taken there of a 130kg tiger with its paws on his shoulders. “He’s 190kg now and is in Dubbo waiting to come here,” his arrival in Canberra on hold while Tindale negotiates to acquire more land to expand the zoo and establish a savannah. He dreams of building African-style huts so that visitors can stay overnight. For the Tindales, it is like being on permanent safari as they live on site with three children and one grandchild. A striking feature of their home is the way it wraps itself around half of the aquarium, providing a talking point in their lounge-dining room. Tindale says it’s an “incredible experience” to be able to enjoy the zoo after the gates close each day, especially during the summer months. After retiring in 1994 as chairman of the Independent Property Group and Madison Constructions, his new job keeps him busier than ever. But it’s a labour of love which he hopes his children will take over one day. “They’ll carry me out of here in a box, hopefully later rather than sooner.”

FACT FILE

National Zoo and Aquarium, Scrivener Dam, Yarralumla, Canberra. Bookings: (02) 62 878 400.
Open: 9am to 5pm every day, except Christmas day.
All areas of the park can be accessed by a wheelchair. BBQ facilities, picnic tables, coffee shop open 7 days a week.
Admission: Children 0-3 years gold coin; children 4-15 years $10.50; concession $15.50; adults $18.50; family $55.50.

© Christine Salins

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