@zooboy28 & MRJ: I like and agree with all of your comments but one thing that neither of you mentioned is the weather. Canada only has 80 zoos and yet it is the 2nd largest nation on the planet, but something like 90% of all Canadians live within an hour of the U.S. border. That is a famous fact about Canada, in that most of the country is inhospitable; the frigid environment in the northern sections are not exactly tailor-made for zoos. I live near Vancouver and we on average receive perhaps 4 days of snow each year, but many other parts of the country are snowbound for months on end. Australia, on the other hand, also has many inhospitable areas, and also has the vast majority of its citizens located in a specific zone (along the southern and eastern coasts) but the much warmer climate is more conducive for the opening of a zoo. I've been all over Australia and I've always been astonished at just how many small wildlife parks there are; with 165 zoos for 24 million people it is intriguing to compare that to the U.K. with its approximate same number of zoos for triple the population. Australia's zoos are far more scattered while in the U.K. there are numerous clusters of zoos in tight concentration. It seems whether one were to list the sheer quantity of zoos, the quality of the top zoos, the world's 50 greatest zoo exhibits, or any number of other categories...surely it is a neck-and-neck choice between Germany or the United States for the status as the world's greatest zoo destination. If one were to look at just quality then there might not be much to choose between the two, but quantity the U.S. leads 700 to 500. However, there is something greatly appealing to the notion that Germany packs its 500 zoos into a much smaller slice of land, and there is perhaps not so many roadside menageries as there is in America.
Two new for the list, both in the Wimmera district of Victoria: Giant Koala Tourist Complex, Dadswell Bridge Rotary Fauna Park, Kaniva
thanks for that. I shall add them in due course. (I don't update the zoo lists very often because when I do I feel the need to check that the website links still work, and check if the smaller places are still operating, and so on... and then it just turns into an all-day job).
I noticed that this excellent thread has not been updated in almost a year, and is that a sign that there haven't been any new Aussie zoos? In preceding years there has always been a number of closures but has that ceased or is it just a case of no one reporting on the demise of small wildlife parks? Either way, I'm consistently impressed that Australia has approximately 165 zoos!
The Big Goose kids farm has camels, ostriches and a few aviary birds as well as a wide variety of domestic animals. Otway Deer and Wildlife Park is now the Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park Welcome to Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park.
I decided to spend a considerable amount of time going through the original list and it is startling at how much has changed in 6 years since "Chlidonias" graciously compiled the numbers. I visited EVERY SINGLE zoo website but in truth many of the smaller facilities have scant information available online. What amazed me was the sheer volume of establishments that had undergone a name change or closed down and while at one point there seemed to be approximately 170 zoos in Australia I have found that the grand total is likely much closer to 150. With a national population of 24 million, the total of 150 zoos is still very impressive. A sampling of almost 30 zoos that have closed or are perhaps not applicable to the new list: Wyndham Crocodile Farm (WA) Warrawong Sanctuary (SA) Bordertown Wildlife Park (SA) Ducatoon Park (SA) - mainly all horses? The Seahorse Farm (SA) Whyalla Wildlife Park (SA) Bredl's Wonder World of Wildlife (SA) Dundee's Wildlife Park (SA) Kangaroo Island Penguin Centre (SA) Platypus Experience (TAS) - no captive specimens Animal Land Children's Farm (VIC) - no exotics Collingwood Children's Farm (VIC) - no exotics Ace Hi Ranch (VIC) - no exotics Buller's Bird Park (VIC) Cudgee Creek Wildlife Park (VIC) Golden River Zoo (VIC) Buxton Zoo (VIC) Beveridge Birdworld (VIC) Wildlife Wonderland (VIC) Waterfall Springs Wildlife Sanctuary (VIC) - open to public? Underwater Bondi Experience Centre (NSW) OZe. Wildlife Park (NSW) Parrot Gardens (NSW) Edward River Crocodile Farm (QLD) Cairns Tropical Zoo (QLD) Queensland Zoo (QLD) Deadly Australians (QLD) Alma Park Zoo (QLD) Illawong Fauna Sanctuary (QLD) The newly revised list is posted below and judging from my research it should be fairly accurate. Having said that, Australia might only have a handful of major zoos but there is such a bewildering high number of community wildlife parks that I'm likely missing a number of facilities that have either opened, closed or had their name changed. MARCH 26TH, 2016: AUSTRALIAN ZOO LIST TOTAL NUMBER OF AUSTRALIAN ZOOS = 153 QUEENSLAND (38 Zoos) Daintree Wild Zoo (Daintree) Wildlife Habitat (Port Douglas) Hartley's Crocodile Adventures (Wangetti) Cairns ZOOM & Wildlife Dome (Cairns) Undersea World Aquarium (Cairns) Marineland Crocodile Park (Cairns, Green Island) Shambala Animal Kingdom (Koah, Kuranda) Australian Butterfly Sanctuary (Kuranda) Australian Venom Zoo (Kuranda) Birdworld Kuranda (Kuranda) Kuranda Koala Gardens (Kuranda) RainForeStation Nature Park (Kuranda) Eagles Nest Wildlife Hospital (Millstream) AquaSearch Aquarium (Magnetic Island) Bungalow Bay Koala Village (Magnetic Island) Reef HQ Great Barrier Reef Aquarium (Townsville) Billabong Sanctuary (Nome) Bredls' Blue Planet (Airlie Beach) WILD LIFE Hamilton Island (Hamilton Island) Cooberrie Park Australian Wildlife Sanctuary (Yeppoon) Rockhampton Zoo (Rockhampton) Koorana Crocodile Farm (Coowonga) Flying High Bird Sanctuary (Apple Tree Creek) Snakes Downunder Reptile Park & Zoo (Childers) Reef World (Urangan) Underwater World Sea Life Mooloolaba (Mooloolaba) Australia Zoo (Beerwah) O'Reilly's Birds of Prey Show (Lamington National Park) Wildlife HQ (Woombye) Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary (Fig Tree Pocket, Brisbane) Walkabout Creek: South East Queensland Wildlife Centre (The Gap, Brisbane) Darling Downs Zoo (Pilton) Dreamworld (Coomera) Sea World (Gold Coast) David Fleay Wildlife Park (Burleigh Heads) Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary (Currumbin) Bilby Experience (Charleville) Alexandra Park Zoo (Bundaberg) NEW SOUTH WALES (32 Zoos) Dolphin Marine Magic (Coffs Harbour) National Marine Science Centre: Solitary Islands Aquarium (Coffs Harbour) Coffs Harbour Butterfly House (Bonville) Billabong Koala and Wildlife Park (Port Macquarie) Hunter Valley Zoo (Nulkaba) Irukandji Shark and Ray Encounters (Bobs Farm) Oakvale Farm & Fauna World (Salt Ash) Blackbutt Reserve (Kotara) Waterways Wildlife Park (Gunnedah) Australia Walkabout Wildlife Park (Calga) Australian Reptile Park (Somersby) Taronga Western Plains Zoo (Dubbo) Featherdale Wildlife Park (Doonside, Sydney) Auburn Botanic Gardens (Auburn, Sydney) Taronga Zoo (Sydney) Sydney Sea Life Aquarium (Sydney) Wild Life Sydney Zoo (Sydney) Manly Sea Life Sanctuary (Manly, Sydney) Koala Park Sanctuary (West Pennant Hills, Sydney) Calmsley Hill City Farm (Abbotsbury) Symbio Wildlife Park (Helensburgh) Bargo Dingo Sanctuary (Bargo) Shoalhaven Zoo and Adventure World (North Nowra) Mogo Zoo (Mogo) Birdland Animal Park (Batemans Bay) Altina Wildlife Park (Darlington Point) John Lake Centre (at Narrandera Fisheries Centre) (Narrandera) Narrandera Mini Zoo (Narrandera) Wagga Zoo (Wagga Wagga) Merimbula Aquarium (Merimbula) Potoroo Palace: Native Animal Educational Sanctuary (Merimbula) Macadamia Castle and Animal Park (Knockrow) AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY (4 Zoos) Canberra Reptile Zoo (Nicholls, Canberra) Canberra Walk-in Aviary (Nicholls, Canberra) National Zoo and Aquarium (Yarralumla, Canberra) Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve (Tharwa, Canberra) VICTORIA (25 Zoos) Kyabram Fauna Park (Kyabram) Jirrahlinga Koala & Wildlife Sanctuary (Barwon Heads) Mansfield Zoo (Mansfield) Halls Gap Zoo (Halls Gap) Tinakori Animal Farm (Clunes) Ballarat Wildlife Park (Ballarat) Ballarat Bird World (Mount Helen) Eildon Deer Park (Thornton) Healesville Sanctuary (Healesville) Werribee Open Range Zoo (Werribee) Serendip Sanctuary (Lara) Melbourne Sea Life Aquarium (Melbourne) Melbourne Museum (Carlton, Melbourne) Melbourne Zoo (Melbourne) Animal Tracks Sanctuary (Gembrook) Gumbuya Park (Tynong) Bayles Fauna Park (Bayles) Warrook Cattle Farm (Monomeith) Moonlit Sanctuary (Pearcedale) Koala Conservation Centre (Phillip Island) Phillip Island Wildlife Park (Phillip Island) Maru Koala and Animal Park (Grantville) Great Ocean Road Wildlife Park (Princetown) Giant Koala Tourist Complex (Dadswell Bridge) Rotary Fauna Park (Kaniva) TASMANIA (13 Zoos) Stanley Seaquarium (Stanley) Platypus House (Beauty Point) Seahorse World (Beauty Point) Trowunna Wildlife Park (Mole Creek) Wing's Wildlife Park (Gunns Plains) Devils@Cradle Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary (Cradle Mountain) Tasmania Zoo (Riverside) Launceston City Park (Launceston) East Coast Natureworld (Bicheno) Bonorong Wildlife Centre (Brighton) Zoodoo Wildlife Park (Richmond) Something Wild (National Park) Tasmanian Devil Unzoo (Taranna) SOUTH AUSTRALIA (11 Zoos) Humbug Scrub Wildlife Sanctuary (One Tree Hill) Bute Lions Fauna Park (Bute) Moonta Wildlife Park (Moonta Bay) Wallaroo Fauna & Wildlife Park (Wallaroo) HJ Cook Fauna Park (Minlaton) Adelaide Zoo (Adelaide) Cleland Wildlife Park (Crafers) Gorge Wildlife Park (Cudlee Creek) Monarto Zoo (Monarto) Urimbirra Wildlife Park (Victor Harbor) Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park (Seddon, Kangaroo Island) NORTHERN TERRITORY (8 Zoos) Crocodylus Park (Darwin) Crocosaurus Cove (Darwin) Indo Pacific Marine (Darwin) Feathers Sanctuary (Jingili, Darwin) Territory Wildlife Park (Berry Springs) Batchelor Butterfly Farm (Batchelor) Alice Springs Desert Park (Alice Springs) Alice Springs Reptile Centre (Alice Springs) WESTERN AUSTRALIA (21 Zoos) Malcolm Douglas Wilderness Wildlife Park (Broome) Ocean Park Aquarium (Shark Bay) Rainbow Jungle (Kalbarri) Hammond Park (Kalgoorlie) AQWA: the Aquarium of Western Australia (Hillarys, Perth) Caversham Wildlife Park (Whiteman) Cohunu Koala Park (Byford) Perth Zoo (Perth) Naturaliste Marine Discovery Centre (Perth) Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (Lesmurdie) Armadale Reptile and Wildlife Centre (Wungong) Western Australian Birds Of Prey Centre (Swan Valley) Peel Zoo (Pinjarra) Big Swamp Wildlife Park (Bunbury) Quindalup Fauna Park (Quindalup) Eagles Heritage (Margaret River) Naturaliste Reptile Park (Carbunup River) Wave Rock Wildlife Park (Hyden) Denmark Dinosaur World: Parrot Jungle Bird & Reptile Park (Denmark) Whale World: Discovery Bay's Walk on the Wild Side (Albany) Yongergnow Australian Malleefowl Centre (Ongerup)
at some point I'll go through the list and see what needs to be changed. Maybe tomorrow because it's a holiday but otherwise I don't know when I'll have time.
Thanks Snowleopard for your extensive revision. I can add that not only did Animal Tracks never open their public facility but also their demonstrators business has closed due to family problems. Neither Priam (in the first list) or Waterfall Springs are open to the public. Both are specialist breeding facilities, Priam for parrots and Waterfall Springs for rock wallabies.
Other than the closure of Shambala Animal Kingdom, which takes the total down to 152 zoos, I cannot find any other changes that need to be made. However, perhaps there are a few more and I'd be grateful to anyone who pointed them out so that the list can be edited and updated. A few additional comments: - There is certainly a long list of zoos that have closed in the past decade, with a clear drop in the overall total of wildlife facilities in the nation. I noticed the same trend when I compiled a list of Canada's 80 zoos, with a large number of roadside menageries having closed down in the past decade. One could make the general assumption that both Canada and Australia have fewer zoos than they did 10-20 years ago but the exhibit quality has improved within the establishments that remain open. - The lack of diversity with Australian zoos is something that has been mentioned innumerable times on this site, but it is worth repeating here. While scrolling through countless websites it at times appeared as if I was experiencing deja vu as the same images of walk-through wallaby yards, koala boardwalk areas and cockatoo aviaries were shown over and over again. Admission prices, seen through the eyes of a North American zoo enthusiast, are often outrageous all over Australia and the emphasis is on the tourist trade. It is normal to charge $30-35 for an adult to see "the wonders from down under that can be found nowhere else"! Actually, those grey kangaroos can be seen at more than a hundred other parks and koalas are as common as rats. - Even with the scarcity of exotics, Australian zoos offer up many indigenous species that are mouth-watering for a Canadian such as myself. I can tour hundreds of zoos in the USA but not see many animals that are fairly common throughout Australian zoos and that in itself is a wonderful reason to visit Oz. - Approximately 75 Australian zoos are accredited institutions, meaning that about 50% have reached that goal. That is similar to Canada, where close to 50% of all zoos are now accredited. In the USA around 30% of all public zoos are accredited and while in America there are many of the biggest and best zoos on the planet there is also a long list of absolutely crap zoos as well.
I've edited the original post today. There weren't a lot of changes to the list really, although a number of the websites had to be changed because they no longer worked. I added in four new collections: *Paradise Country, another theme park on the Gold Coast with Australian animals. *Ipswich Nature Centre in Ipswich, south of Brisbane. *Secret Creek Sanctuary near Lithgow, NSW. *The Big Goose Kids Farm near Melbourne. I removed the following four collections: *Feathers Sanctuary as it seems to no longer be a ZAA member (the only reason it was on the list originally). *Whistling Ponds Native and Exotic Bird Sanctuary (Perth) - I can't find anything online about it so whatever it was it doesn't seem to exist any more, and it is no longer listed as a ZAA member. *Waterfall Springs and PRIAM - I had them both there because they were Associate ZAA members even though not open to public, but decided to take them off now (both are still members of the ZAA). Other than those I removed the following: QUEENSLAND *Cairns Tropical Zoo/Night Zoo (Cairns) - closing this month. NEW SOUTH WALES *Underwater Bondi Experience (Sydney) - the public building has closed, and now the organisation only does school group tours of rock pools and diving. VICTORIA *Animal Tracks Sanctuary (Gembrook) - closed down as per MRJ's comments earlier. TASMANIA *Sea Life Centre (Bicheno) - the website now just goes to a restaurant called Sea Life Centre, but some googling shows there is a small aquarium still in Bicheno, so I replaced the above with a simple "Bicheno Aquarium". *Something Wild Wildlife Sanctuary (National Park) - a bit of googling eventually showed that it apparently closed in June 2011. SOUTH AUSTRALIA *Warrawong Wildlife Sanctuary (Adelaide) - closed 2013. *The Seahorse Farm (Port Adelaide) - closed. *Ducatoon Park (Kadina) - it does seem to be just horses; I can only assume that at the time I made the original list they had other animals there as well. WESTERN AUSTRALIA *Wyndham Crocodile Farm (Wyndham) - closed 2014. *Naturaliste Marine Discovery Centre (Perth) - public centre closed in 2014. very few of the closed collections were even still on the list. Of the ones which were still there only the following closed collections had to be removed since my last edit a year ago: *Wyndham Crocodile Farm *Warrawong Sanctuary *Seahorse Farm *Underwater Bondi Experience Centre *Cairns Tropical Zoo Of the others I only removed Ducatoon Park (because as you say it does seem to be just horses now) and Waterfall Springs. The ones I left: *Kangaroo Island Penguin Centre - has marine aquariums *Platypus Experience - has aquariums (apparently) *Animal Land Children's Farm - has a few exotics *Collingwood Children's Farm - has a few exotics *Ace-Hi Ranch - has a wildlife park *Edward River Crocodile Farm - still operating and *Queensland Zoo (but it has had a name-change to Wildlife HQ)
Ace Hi closed their wildlife park about 3 years ago. Check their website - there is no mention of the wildlife park.
Yet sadly that is all most overseas tourists - and many Aussies - are interested in. It is sad to see them walk by some of the most endangered species on earth without a second glance, then complain they did not see enough kangaroos, as if the 70 odd wallabies and kangaroos we have freerange are not enough. I wish! So true. One of my frustrations is that Aussie tourism officials don't realise this and don't value our wildlife enough.
I noticed there was no mention on their website but they still include a photo of kids with kangaroos, so I thought it was just one of those things where a website doesn't bother mentioning everything they have.
@Chlidonias: thanks for making substantial changes to the original list (the power of a moderator!) but I think that there is still a lot more that could potentially be done. Should we add back in these two?: Naturaliste Maine Discovery Centre (WA) - the centre did close down in terms of the interactive experience but there are several aquariums that are free to the public from 10-4 daily. Apparently there are animals such as octopus, turtles and many species of fish that can still be seen. Undersea World Aquarium (QLD) - is this ultra-tiny establishment still open to the public? I'd recommend the possible removal of all 9 on the list below: Adelaide Botanic Gardens (SA) - what exotics are here? Any at all? Kangaroo Island Penguin Centre (SA) - the website states that the penguin tours closed in 2013 and I'm not sure if the aquariums are still available for viewing either. Maybe someone else could confirm that suspicion. Platypus Experience (TAS) - are there really aquariums there? If so, then I suppose that the facility could qualify as a "zoo" but do we have confirmation? Dingo Conservation Australia (VIC) - not open to the public. Ace-Hi Ranch (VIC) - no exotics. Mt. Rothwell Biodiversity Interpretation Centre (VIC) - open to the public? Should this place count as a zoo? Animal Land Children's Farm (VIC) - no exotics. It is a slippery slope if we begin to include every farm with a few alpacas...unless there are roos somewhere? Collingwood Children's Farm (VIC) - no exotics. Guinea pigs shouldn't count. Big Goose Kids Farm (VIC) - no exotics.
Undersea World Aquarium in Cairns has been closed for years (I only found this out quite recently - check the thread about the supposedly-upcoming new aquarium in Cairns where this was discussed). My understanding of Naturaliste is that it closed to the public but the aquariums could still be viewed, but then the entire place was officially closed about a year or so ago so no aquariums can be seen now. the subtropical Bicentennial Aviary has birds and invertebrates. the website had a virus (probably from one of the add-ons) so I didn't review it - and which is why I didn't put a link to the website as for the other collections. I will look into the aquarium situation. they apparently have tanks of Tasmanian fish and (at least previously, perhaps still) trout and salmon. It will stay on the list unless someone can definitely say they have no tanks any more. yep, I was going to remove the dingo farm when I removed Waterfall Springs and PRIAM, but I forgot. I think it used to be open to the public which is why it was on the list originally. yes it is open to the public, they have captive animals for viewing and animal demonstrations as well the wild animals. It isn't a "zoo" but it is a captive animal collection. if a farm park only has one alpaca it doesn't count, but if it has alpacas, cockatoos, emus, ostriches, whatever, then it can stay.
Anybody to know, how many zoos in Australia keep coastal taipan (the Australian subspecies, not the Papuan)? And whether it is possible for oversea zoo (like in Europe), to obtain few specimens imported from Australia?
