Featherdale despite its corny sounding name , I agree that it is not a bad place to see Aust fauna . Not as good as Currimbin or Healesville , but better value than Koala Park in Pennant Hills . It is good that they have planted more trees over the years -- it was somewhat barren when I first went there in 1981
i would be keen to know other opinions - is heallesville really the primo, creme de la creme, when it comes to native animal parks?
I'll throw in my two cents and state that I was hugely impressed with Healesville. I was fortunate enough to see a lyrebird give a high-pitched, 10 minute display, and there were a few baby tasmanian devils as of June 2007. The exhibits were very well planted, the bird show was entertaining, the platypus building was bizarre-looking and yet effective, and my overall impression was of a well run establishment. From a tourist's perspective one couldn't really ask for much more in terms of Aussie wildlife.
patrick asks for opinions regarding wildlife parks (i.e. those displaying predominantly native Australian animals); As far as I'm concerned, Healesville in Victoria is the best in Australia, Currumbin is Queensland's best and Featherdale is N.S.W.'s best. (If you haven't been to Featherdale and assume it is just some little flea-pit, you are in for a shock.) Just to get back on topic (Sydney Wildlife World), my little grand-daughter went there last week. Kids are funny; she was fearless and thrilled to hold a snake but ran squealing in terror when a butterfly landed on her head!
i visited today, overall i think it was ok. nothing amazing but not as bad as i had expected! there were a couple of things that i really didnt like though, the first was that the signage consists of one tv above each exhibit, so in a mixed exhibit if you wanted to know what an animal was you had to wait till the tv cycled through al of the other animals and often plants in the exhibit before you found out! this lead to a lot of tourist getting the wrong information like a tourist assuming that the bettong was a wombat.... We also saw a black rat running around in the walkthough avariy now i know rats are an issue with averies but this one was in the middle of a building so you would think that you could stop the rats! the cassowary is currently sharing its exhibit with bandicoots and red legged pademellons which seems a bit risky! dispite these things it wasnt so bad for what it is, a tourist attraction!
Koala Park has closed and, although it is still running and has animals, I believe Waratah Park is not open to the public. Manly Marineland has been renamed Oceanworld. Hix
I spent five days in Sydney in September 2007 to see Taronga, Manley and the two collections in Darling Harbour. My advice to anyone visiting Sydney to see animals is to visit the Sydney Aquarium and Taronga but skip Sydney Wildlife World altogether, even if it is next door to the aquarium. Not only for the touristy impression and high admission fee, but also because of how it displays the animals, behind glass. As an avid photographer, glass is something I have hated my entire zoo visiting career. Zoos around the world display Australian animals, but usually behind glass, with the exception of kangaroos, wallabies, emus and such, while in Australia climate allow them to be kept indoors. Why would you go to Australia to visit a place that has all these wonders behind glass just as in your homeland? Go see them under the blue sky at Taronga or go to the Australian Reptile Park. To end this on a positive note, I will give SWW credit for its excellent labelling and education, which is among the best I have seen in a zoo anywhere, but that is about it that I can complement them.
Sorry to revive an old thread, but I haven't been on here for ages and was reading through assorted posts when I found this. Thank you for that, Baldur. That was my handiwork and it's always nice to discover that it wasn't entirely in vain. I haven't been back to visit since the remodel/rebrand, so I can't comment on what it is like now.
They are now calling themselves WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo. I imagine that is quite good for their search engine optimisation and aims to pull visitors from Taronga. Here is a video too
Following the takeover by Merlin, the aquariums were renamed SEA LIFE and the terrestrial animal attractions renamed WILD LIFE, so there is also WILD LIFE Hamilton Island (Official WILD LIFE Hamilton Island | Hamilton Island Wildlife Park). I guess there could be more in this chain, especially if they were to takeover some other similar small parks in tourist destinations.
It might be old news but nobody posted it here and I think it is interesting regarding their positioning in relation to Taronga.
A female spotted-tailed quoll rescued from the Wild Rivers National Park is now on display: Meet our rescued Spotted-tail Quoll
Two Kangaroo Island kangaroo joeys ave arrived: https://www.wildlifesydney.com.au/news/new-kangaroo-joeys/
