Every week, Lake District Wildlife Park's Lucy Dunn updates our readers about this week's activities!

Over the next few weeks, join us on a virtual journey around the World. The Keepers at the Lake District Wildlife Park have many different animals in their care that originate from all corners of the globe.

The staff love exploring exotic places and learning about the animals that live there, so come with us to outback Australia, the rainforests of South America, the mountains of Asia and the plains of Africa before heading back to visit our beloved native wildlife in Cumbria.

Dreaming of far-away lands and exotic animals can be both a relaxing and an inspiring thing to do. So, make yourself a cup of tea or coffee, take a seat and let your imagination run wild! This week we are heading to the other side of the World, down under to Australia.

When you first enter the Lake District Wildlife Park you are most likely to be bombarded with sounds. One of the first, that most people recognise is the resonating song of Oats and Raisin our two endearing Kookaburras. Their belting song sounds like a deep belly laugh and is unmistakeable.

The song “Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree” is an Australian nursery rhyme that was written in 1932 by Marion Sinclair. We have observed many visitors singing this rhyme to their children as they watch Oats and Raisin swinging on their perch as if in a gum tree.

Now we want you to imagine the heat of a scorching day in outback Australia. Kylie the Blue Tongued Skink lives in a heated enclosure to mimic her natural living conditions. She often features in our Reptile Encounters and talks.

In the wild, Blue Tongued Skinks live in a burrow or shelter under piles of leaves or tall grasses. Skinks are not the fastest of animal and so they tend to eat slow moving prey such as insects, slugs and snails. They also eat things that don’t move at all such as plants and fruit! And because they are quite slow movers, their blue tongue is essential for survival. If they feel under threat from predators, they will flash their bright blue tongue and hiss.

Luna the Bearded Dragon is our other Australian Reptile. Bearded Dragons are found in the wild in deserts, scrubland and Eucalyptus woodland. Luna, like Kylie also lives in a heated enclosure and she also makes a regular appearance in our talks. Luna’s beard like all Bearded Dragons is the underside of her throat, which has spikes down the side and can be puffed out if she feels threatened.

Bearded Dragons also exhibit a behaviour known as head bobbing and scientists think they do this to communicate with one another. A lot of the time Luna can be observed sitting quietly watching and waiting to see if any prey comes her way. If she happens to spot a cricket or a grasshopper she can run and lunge at extremely high speeds.

At this time of year, in the cold days of January, the Keepers do enjoy a day when it is their turn to look after the birds in the aviaries and the Reptiles including Kylie and Luna. Not only does it mean you spend your day with the animals that need to be kept warm, but it also means you can imagine being somewhere warm and sunny.

We are looking forward to welcoming you back to see our amazing animals. In the meantime, we hope these articles, photos, our website and our social media feeds will help your imagination truly run wild!