SPRING ISSUE 2026
Snow
CUBS
LEOPEAORUTD COM to PLAY! page 2
Make a detection dog
PANCAKE page 10
INSIDE » INSIDE »
• Take the dino quiz & win
4
• Craft a Swift Parrot mask 14
• Make a nature journal
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WHO’S WHO at the ZOO? GET TO KNOW SOME OF OUR NEWEST ARRIVALS
MEET OUR SNOW LEOPARD CUBS
Earlier this year, Melbourne Zoo welcomed four adorable snow leopard cubs – the only snow leopard cubs in the whole of Australia! Born to mum Miska and dad Kang-Ju, the four playful cubs can be tricky to tell apart. Even their keepers get confused about who’s who.
MAYA
SABU
KIRA
LUMI
Gender:
Gender:
Gender:
Gender:
Female
Personality:
Curious & brave
Look out for:
A bold stripe on her back. Keepers used to call her Stripe.
Male
Personality:
Playful & nervous
Look out for:
He usually sticks close to his mum, Miska.
Female
Male
Personality:
Subdued & snoozy
Look out for:
She likes time alone, but is starting to become more social.
Personality:
Quiet & watchful
Look out for:
His left whisker spots – four on top, four on the bottom.
Zoos Victoria PO Box 74, Parkville VIC 3052 P 03 9340 2780 E members@zoo.org.au W zoo.org.au Zooper Kids is published for Zoos Victoria by Heads & Tales, a Hardie Grant Media agency. MANAGING DIRECTOR Rod Mooseek ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Scott Elmslie EDITOR Jo Stewart ART DIRECTOR Dallas Budde DESIGN Dallas Budde & Natalie Lachina PRINTER Finsbury Green
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Printed on FSC® certified paper with vegetable-based inks. Zoos Victoria is a carbon-neutral organisation and powered by 100% renewable energy.
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE ILLUSTRATION BY GREGORY ROBERTS
Can you spot the 10 differences between these two Snow Leopard images?
JUMPING JOEYS Healesville Sanctuary is now home to two bouncing baby joeys!
Can you match each joey to its grown up?
? ?
Red kangaroo
Swamp wallaby See PAGE 17 for answers
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COMPE TITION
TIME!
DINOSAUR
DISCOVERY QU IZ!
How to enter: 1 Visit one or more of your zoos with your copy of Zooper Kids.
One entry per member, per zoo. That means you can enter up to
3 THREE TIMES.
2 Scan the QR code and enter your member details and quiz answers for your entry.
Explore the dinosaur exhibit to help you answer the questions.
GOOD LUCK T&Cs: winners will be randomly drawn from entries that correctly answer the pictorial quiz questions.
We are giving away
5 Prehistoric
44
Prize Packs
WORTH $100ea
DINOSAUR PRIZE PACKS
(worth $100ea)
ALL EXPLORERS & DINO DETECTIVES
Calling
W1 ofIN5
Visit the dino experiences across Zoos Victoria sites and answer the questions for your chance to win!
QUIZ QUESTIONS ~ FOR ~
MELBOURNE ZOO
~ FOR ~
~ FOR ~
HEALESVILLE SANCTUARY
WERRIBEE
OPEN RANGE ZOO 1
1 Which dinosaur has spikes on its back?
2
Which dinosaur in the exhibit has the longest name?
1 Which dinosaur has an armoured shell?
2 WHICH DINOSAUR IN THE EXHIBIT HAS FOUR HORNS ON ITS HEAD?
2
HOW MANY DINOSAURS CAN YOU COUNT ON THE DINO TRAIL?
3
S
WHICH DINOSAUR IN THE EXHIBIT HAS THE LONGEST TAIL?
Which dinosaur appears in a pair at Melbourne Zoo?
Which dinosaur do these claws belong to?
4
4
HOW MANY DINOS ON THE TRAIL START WITH THE LETTER ‘S’?
WHICH DINOSAUR HAS THE LONGEST NECK IN THE EXHIBIT?
5 Which dinosaur stands at the main entrance to the zoo?
3
3
5 Which dino has a big bony dome on its head?
Which dinosaur has feathers?
4 WHAT COLOUR IS THE FIRST DINOSAUR ON THE TRAIL?
GREY
BLUE
5
Which species has both an adult and baby on display?
GREEN
ORAN
5
GE
COLOUR-ME-IN PERIENCE EARLY MORNING SAVANNAH EX ILLUSTRATION BY PRIYANKA KASHIB
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DID YOU KNOW? The Eland’s spiralled horns come in handy at feeding time. They use their horns to reach high tree branches and bring them closer so they can munch on the tastiest leaves.
ELAND
ZEBRA
RHINOCEROS
GIRAFFE Giraffes can grow up to five metres tall. When they walk, they move both legs on one side of their body at the same time, which helps to stop them from tripping over.
See all these animals at Werribee Open Range Zoo,
SCIMITAR-HORNED ORYX
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MAKE YOUR OWN
Penguin
BOOKMARK You’ll never lose what page you’re up to with this cute penguin bookmark.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED A5-sized black craft paper Scraps of plain white paper Scraps of orange paper Black pen or marker Scissors Glue stick
STEPS
1
2
Fold over one corner of the black paper to make a triangle.
Trim the excess paper, then rotate the triangle so the long edge is at the bottom and the point faces up.
3
4
Fold the lower right corner up to meet the top right corner.
Repeat step three for the left side.
MEET JUAN! Have you met Juan the very special penguin at Melbourne Zoo? He was rescued from the wild when an accident
damaged his flipper. After vets helped him, he moved into Wild Sea at Melbourne Zoo as
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it’s hard for penguins to survive in the wild without a flipper. Look out for him on your next visit.
Remember always ask to adult to he an lp w using scissors hen .
5
6
7
Fold these two back open, then flip down one of the top sheets and crease.
Fold the flaps you created back up and tuck into your bookmark.
Use your scissors to cut out two circles for the penguin’s eyes, then use your black marker to draw the pupils.
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9
10
Now cut a thin orange triangle to make a beak.
Make the penguin’s tummy by cutting a small triangle out of the white paper. Then cut two scoops out of the corners of the triangle into the shape of the tummy.
Cut two very small love-hearts or crowns out of the orange paper to make the feet.
PRETTY YOUR PAGE Place your penguin bookmark on the page you want to come back to later.
11 Use your glue stick to stick on the eyes, beak, tummy and feet to complete your penguin.
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ZOOPER KITCHEN
PUPPY PANCAKES Celebrate Zoos Victoria’s new detection dog recruits with a puppy pancake breakfast.
Give your puppy pancake a name!
WHAT YOU’LL NEED 1 x store-bought pancake or pikelet mix 2 x slices of banana 3 x blueberries 1 x strawberry, halved A few tablespoons of nut butter or jam
1010
adult Make sure an with u o helps y that any cooking or involves heats. sharp tool
MEET THE DOG SQUAD
STEPS
NEW RECRUITS
1
2
Follow the packet instructions to make the pancake mix. Cook one large circle, two ovals and two small circles.
Place the large pancake in the centre of a plate to create the puppy’s face.
Beatrix (Bea for short) is a five-year-old black Labrador and a new member of Zoos Victoria’s detection dog family. She loves squeaky tennis balls and swimming.
The squad’s youngest recruit is three-year-old Kelpie, Yabby. Yabby will be sniffing out Victorian Grassland Earless Dragons.
3
4
Lightly coat the oval pancakes with nut butter or jam, then attach them to the top left and right of the large pancake to make the ears.
Add a little nut butter or jam to the banana slices and place them on the face for the eyes. Press a blueberry onto each banana slice.
RETIREES
Kip is retiring after being the first Platypus detection dog
at Zoos Victoria. In his time as a detection dog, he learned to paddleboard to access hard-to-reach burrows.
5
6
Use a little nut butter or jam to secure the two small pancakes to the face, creating the snout. Add a blueberry in the centre for the nose.
Tuck the strawberry half underneath the snout to make the puppy’s tongue. Serve and enjoy your puppy pancake.
Moss is also calling it quits but had plenty of magic moments as a detection dog, including the discovery of a new Broad-toothed Rat population right under our noses next to Healesville Sanctuary.
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DRONE MAZE
game
DRONE OPERATING AREA
Zoos Victoria’s conservation team fly drones in the sky to find and check on threatened native animals. Drones are really good at helping scientists to find animals in places that are hard to get to, such as steep mountains and bushland after a fire.
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FIND THE RIGHT ROUTE
Use a pen, pencil or crayon to find which path the drone needs to follow to reach the Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby.
DID YOU KNOW?
1 2 3
4
5
Drones do more than just spotting animals in the wild. The team at Zoos Victoria use drones in Victoria’s Alpine Region to drop food for animals such as the Mountain Pygmy-possum to help the species thrive.
Food for the Mountain Pygmy–possum
BRUSH-TAILED ROCK-WALLABY
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Go Wild & DRESS UP!
Looking for a fun way to help protect local wildlife? This September, dress up as your favourite animal, wear some stripes or spots, or put on a mask to help people learn about the local threatened species that need our help. Wild Week is 7–13 September.
MAKE YOUR OWN
SwiftMASK Parrot
Coloured craft paper (red, green, yellow, white, black & orange) Glue/clag An elastic band A hole punch Scissors
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STEPS
Zooper Kids Mag
azine • Swift
Parrot Mask Temp
late
Cu
✃
EED WHAT YOU’LL N
Always ask an adult to help with using scissors!
ta
g lo n
da
she
d li n
Page 1 of 2
es
GREEN
RED WHITE RED WHITE
1
2
Snap the QR code to download your mask template from the Member Zone.
Use the mask template to cut out the various shapes from each of your coloured papers.
WANT MORE? Check out the Member Zone for more animal masks you can make at home.
Ensure that all eye holes are cut out (before the next step).
DID YOU KNOW The Swift Parrot is Critically Endangered. There are just 750 birds estimated to be remaining in the wild. See the Swift Parrot at
Healesville Sancutary and help fight its extinction.
3 Glue one mask base on top of the other.
4
5
Then glue each of the outer eyes (red) then the centre eyes (white) and finally, the middle eyes (black).
Finally, glue the bottom beak, followed by the top beak.
GO WILD WITH YOUR SCHOOL OR CLASS! DRESS UP. RAISE FUNDS. FIGHT EXTINCTION. k.
Scan the QR code to access our schools pac
Punch holes in either side of your mask and tie elestic at either end.
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CONGRATULATIONS to our winners! WOW! THANKS FOR YOUR ENTRIES To enter our next competition, send your picture to: zooperkids@zoo.org.au
MILTON AGED 4
BAT PRIZE PACK
OR Zooper Kids Magazine PO Box 74, Parkville VIC 3052
See back page for all the competition details.
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We love getting your pictures and letters.
FROG PRIZE PACK
ABBY
AGED 11
Puzzle
17
Swamp wallaby
DINO PRIZE PACK
ANSWERS Red kangaroo
AGED 7
BRIANNA
SPOT THE DIFFERENCE (pg 3) ANSWERS: 10 differences are circled
Swamp wallaby
WHO’S WHO? (pg 3)
Red kangaroo
Swamp wallaby
DRONE MAZE game
FOOD TO POO PRIZE PACK
(pgs 12-13) Red kangaroo ANSWER: Path 2
AGED 9
BENJI
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SCAN Or visit Keeper Kids at Melbourne Zoo to see the gallery wall.
KEEPERS’ PICKS Scan the QR code below to see if you’re one of our
ZOOPER KIDS
GARDENING CLUB
Make your own
NATURE JOURNAL Record what you see in your garden or local park in your very own nature journal.
STEPS
18
1
2
3
Line up all of your pages. Fold them in half and, using your hole punch, create two holes along the folded side of your book.
Ask an adult to cut your stick so that it runs the full length of your journal. Then, lay your string along the back of the book and thread it through the two holes until it’s at the front.
Wrap the string around one end of the stick, aligning with the first hole in your journal. Poke the string through the hole into the back of the journal.
CH-CH-CH-CH
CHANGES!
Hint: You can recycle old scrap paper and turn it over to use the blank side for your journal
Take notice of the changes in your garden or at your local park during spring and record them. Look out for new things you observe during spring and record them in your nature journal with words or drawings. What birds can you see or hear? Is there new leaf growth? What flowers have popped up? What scents can you smell in the air? Here’s some things to look out for:
EED WHAT YOU’LL N A small stick Some string A hole punch Paper
Ask an adult to assist with cutting your stick
4
5
Run the other end of the string around the stick and back out of the second hole.
Find a special pen or pencil and start making your notes and sketches.
Finally, tie the ends of your string around the back of your journal.
Blossom
Wattle and other native trees in flower
Birds, such as waddling
Bees and other pollinators
on fruit trees and other deciduous trees
ducklings
and swooping
magpies
coming out to hunt for pollen
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COMPETITION TIME! GIVE AWAY!
WE HAVE FOUR FANTASTIC PRIZE PACKS TO GIVE CONSERVATION AWAY THIS ISSUE… PACK
VET PACK
$77 VALUE
BIRD
$80 VALUE
SAVANNAH PACK
PACK
$76 VALUE
$74 VALUE
To enter: 1 Complete a drawing
2
3
Send your drawing to:
Remember to include your name & address with your entry so that we can contact you!
zooperkids@zoo.org.au
OR
OR Post in the entry box at the Membership Booth at Melbourne Zoo.
Entries close Day, Xth Month 2026, so get cracking! This competition is open to Zoos Victoria Members under the age of 18 with consent of a parent/guardian. Entries will be judged on individual merit and winners notified by phone or email. All entries become the property of Zoos Victoria and will not be returned to the entrants. Prizes are subject to change and cannot be transferred or redeemed for cash. Winners will be announced in the next edition of Zooper Kids.
GOOD LUCK
Zooper Kids Magazine PO Box 74, Parkville VIC 3052