Last week the Education Centre’s

very special galah, Mulga, turned 20. Mulga is my favourite animal at the Zoo. Why

do I adore her? So many reasons!

She is very affectionate and can

be a bit cheeky if she’s ignored for even a millisecond. She also has a bit of

a sad history. She came to the Zoo when she was just a chick, a rescue from

customs after someone had tried to smuggle her. Mulga was hand-raised here and

released back into the wild, but she was found not doing too well, so she

stayed at the Zoo where she could be cared for and also became an ambassador to

educate and inspire students that visit.

To celebrate her birthday I gave

her some treats – her favourite sunflower seeds and an apple core which she

ripped right through. 

Mulga is such a friendly bird. She

loves attention and is very sociable with humans. She makes the most adorable

little clicking noises when you are with her, which is a bit like a cat

purring. She’s always eager for attention, cuddles and playing which makes her

such a great animal to work with.

I’ve been training her and she now

flies from perch to perch in the classroom during lessons and also lifts up her

foot in the air on request. She loves the stimulation and seems to really enjoy

the training.

 Next we’re looking to work with Bird Trainer

Grey from the QBE Free Flight Bird Show to work on some more behaviours.

- Cate, Education