Little Explorers, Big Adventures: Form One Go Wild at Hertfordshire Zoo!
On Wednesday, Form I had a wonderful day at Hertfordshire Zoo. We arrived early and went straight to see the dinosaurs. After some initial wariness, we all loved trying to guess if they were herbivore or carnivores by looking at their teeth. We got it right every time!
We then headed over to the animals and were lucky to see many relaxing in the sun or finishing their breakfast. We ticked off all the animals that we hoped to see and many more! We were interested to see their level of endangerment and had some interesting discussions about extinction.
Then came the highlight: our workshop with the lovely Becky. She was very impressed with our knowledge about the five types of vertebrates, and we enjoyed learning about mammals, fish, birds, reptiles and amphibians. We were able to identify which animals were in which group by their features. Can you guess which one each describes:
- Covered in fur or hair
- Has dry scales
- Covered in feathers
- Has wet scales
- Has soft slimy skin
We were very lucky as that morning the green anaconda had shed its skin and the keeper had given it to Becky to show us. Look how long it is!
After this, we went to watch the bird show where we saw owls, kestrels and kookaburras and found out some fascinating facts before meeting Becky again to learn about the lemurs. We found out about how they live in group with the ‘boss’ who controls what they do. We then tried to find Penelope who is the boss at Hertfordshire Zoo. We spotted her as she has a wonky tooth and is the smallest – but mightiest! Becky also told us about how lemurs are endemic to Madagascar, but their habitats are being destroyed by deforestation. She encouraged us to look out for the Rainforest Alliance symbol on foods that we buy.
Finally, weary but keen we went off to find the sun bears, they were hiding but we were extremely fortunate to happen upon a private feeding of the red pandas, so we got a close-up view of them eating slices of apple.
After a quick climb on the amazing climbing frames and a final toilet visit, we piled back into the van and Mr James drove us home again. What a fun day. Try to book another visit to Hertfordshire Zoo with your family soon!
