From ice blocks filled with meat, fish or fruit to water misters and wading pools these are just some of the methods zookeepers at Adelaide Zoo use to keep its animal residents cool during scorching weather.

Adelaide Zoo's resident giraffe enjoys a carrot filled ice block. Photo: Dave Mattner

Sumatran Tiger, Tuan, takes a nice cooling dip. Photo: Dave Mattner

Exciting news, we're expecting Spotted Hyena cubs at Monarto Zoo! At this stage we estimate they could arrive anytime between now and the next two weeks, with Kigali currently at around 100 days of a 110 day gestation. We saw mating behaviours from our male, Gamba, which indicated Kigali was in season however, as we didn't see any actual matings, we can only estimate her due date.

Kigali, at 95 days, is looking healthy.

My name is Sarah, and I'm the Senior Keeper of the Native Fauna department at Monarto Zoo. Many people would not realise that Monarto is actually home to a vast range of Australian native species, hidden behind the scenes at the Zoo. Our role is to breed a range of threatened species, like wallabies, brush-tail bettongs, bilbies, Tassie devils and malleefowl to name a few, either for the purpose of re-introduction to the wild, or as insurance populations.

Here I am with two little Tassie Devil joeys - aren't they so cute! 

Monarto Zoo's female Giraffe, Malaika, passed away in the early hours of the morning on April 30, 2012, after taking a turn for the worse the night before.

Everyone will remember Malaika for her gentle and friendly nature.

The China Panda Conservation Challenge is a 12 day journey that allows participants to travel to China, enjoy amazing experiences and fundraise for Zoos SA's conservation efforts. One of the highlights of the trip is a visit to the Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre in Chengdu; somewhere I have been lucky enough to experience for myself.

Visiting the Bifengxia Giant Panda Breeding Research Centre is one of the trip's highlights!

Monarto Zoo's African Lion cub, Jahzara, celebrated her first birthday yesterday, May 3. Keepers spoilt her with some special enrichment gifts including cardboard boxes that had been wrapped, painted or filled with shredded paper.

Hello again

Today I am the hospital nurse which means I am responsible for looking after all the animals in hospital and quarantine.

Hi all, it's been another busy day. The serval was cleared from quarantine today which is great news, this means that soon she can be transferred to her new exhibit and will be eventually introduced to our male. We hope that they will breed in the future.

Hi Everyone,

My name is Dianne Hakof (aka DJ Disey!! But there's a story for another day!) and I am the Head Veterinary Nurse at Zoos SA. I have been with Zoos SA for 17 years and love my job to bits and pieces!

Wednesday has been another very busy day with an anaesthetic on the addax calf at Monarto this morning. It appears she has a bone chip on the lateral aspect of her humerus and some radial nerve damage. We have moved her away to a safe area where she can have some rest and hopefully the nerve will heal with time.

Hi Guys, this is Lynley Johnson here, another of the vets from ZoosSA. You will be getting to know all of us from the vet department over the next few weeks as we are all taking it in turns to run the blog!