Zoo Tycoon 2: Zookeeper Edition

My name is Isobel. On Saturday I went to the zoo with my Daddy and Liam who is my brother. I don't think Daddy really wanted to go but he smiled a lot when he was there.

There were 70 kinds of animals in the zoo! My favourite was the Fennec Foxes. They are foxes from Africa with very big ears. They are very cute. I liked it when they scratched their big ears and yawned like Custard. Custard is our cat. My other favourite animal was a big bird called a Flamingo. They are pink and eat shrimps and sleep a lot. When they sleep they stand on one leg and put their head under their wing. Daddy said they do it because they are shy. Liam said they do it because they are trying to smell their bottoms. Liam is stupid.

Daddy's favourite animal was a Nile Crocodile. He liked it when it chased the little lizards and gobbled them up. Daddy liked the Pygmy Hippos as well. He said they reminded him of Auntie Ruth. Liam's favourite animal was probably the Penguins because they slid on their tummies on the ice. Daddy said Penguin bars were made out of real Penguins when he was little. Daddy thinks he is Joe Pasquale.

When we were looking at the Penguins Daddy started talking to a man called Mr. Player. Mr. Player was the boss of the zoo. He said his job was very interesting and fun. The most important part was making sure all the animals were happy. If the animals were hungry or thirsty or lonely or dirty or too crowded then people wouldn't come to the zoo. The people need things too like food and benches and souvenirs.

Mr. Player decides what animals the zoo will get. As the zoo gets more famous he can choose from more different animals. When he buys an animal he needs to build them a home that they will like. Polar Bears would not like it in a desert. Giraffes would not like it in a tundra. Camels would not like it in a rain forest unless they had an umbrella. Daddy told me to write that.

Mr. Player said he was never bored. He said he loved making the homes interesting with hills and ponds and waterfalls and things like that. He said his tools were very good and he gets lots of advice if he wants it. He said in the morning he had designed a new home for the Meerkats and given a name to a baby Black Rhino and built a gift shop and washed three elephants! He said zookeepers would normally wash the elephants but he wanted to wash the elephants today so he did. Liam told Mr. Player he smelled of elephant poo. Daddy made Liam say sorry.

We said goodbye to Mr. Player and went to look at the monkeys. They were ace. We watched Ring Tailed Lemurs getting bananas out of a hollow log. A zookeeper said he put food in logs and ice cubes to make the animals porridge. He also gave the animals toys like balls and squeaky things to make them happy. Liam asked the zookeeper if the Lemurs had a Wii. The zookeeper said they did sometimes.

The zookeeper told us we should go and look at the Warthogs because one called Jade was about to have a baby. We went to the Warthog's home and watched. There was some twinkling stars and then we saw a baby Warthog on the grass. Liam asked how baby Warthogs were made. Daddy said it was time to go and get candyfloss and go on the Sky Tram.

The Sky Tram was brilliant! It was like a ride at the fair. There are places in the zoo called Conservation Areas where Mr Player is not allowed to make paths or buildings. We went above the Conservation Areas in the Sky Tram. Liam dropped his candyfloss on a Mountain Gorilla. Daddy was cross.

When we got off the Sky Tram we went to get something to eat. There was lots and lots of food and drink to choose from. Daddy says there was too much choice. Daddy asked us what we wanted to eat. I asked for a hotdog and ice-cream. Liam wanted bananas in a hollow log but they didn't have them so he had a hotdog too. Afterwards Liam needed the toilet but there was a big queue. Daddy said they needed more toilets in the zoo. We heard a noise and when we looked there was another toilet there! Daddy said it was magic.

On the way to see the Bongos Daddy sang a silly song and we met Mr. Player again. Mr. Player said he wanted three kinds of African animals to have babies this year. He said it was a challenge and he would get money for the zoo if he managed it. He said some zoo bosses didn't like challenges so they didn't do them which was OK. Liam started yawning like a Fennec Fox. Mr Player. said goodbye.

The Bongos were very nice but their home was very smelly because of all the poo. Daddy said Mr. Player should get more zookeepers. Zookeepers collect poo and feed the animals and cure them if they get sick. Daddy told us the best zookeeper ever was a man called Johnny Morris.

Afterwards we went on a Jeep Safari. On the Jeep Safari you drive through a big field that is like Africa. We saw elephants and giraffes and wildebeests. It was brilliant but Daddy said it was very commercial and bad for the environment. He said it was just one big advert for Jeeps. Jeeps cause global warming Daddy says.

After the Jeep Safari me and Liam wanted to go and see the Sharks and the Whales and the Piranhas in Marine Mania but Daddy said we couldn't because it cost £20 extra. He said we would go and look at the creepy crawlies and the snakes instead. We searched for ages but couldn't find many creepy crawlies or snakes. I didn't mind.