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WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo

Tourist attractions

1-5 Wheat Rd, Sydney, NSW 2000

Description

Wild Life Sydney Zoo (formerly Sydney Wildlife World) is a wildlife park in the Darling Harbour precinct, on the western edge of the Sydney central business district, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Opened in September 2006, the zoo is located adjacent to a leisure and retail precinct that includes the SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium and Madame Tussauds Sydney.

History

In May 2006, Sydney Aquarium Pty Ltd announced plans to expand the existing aquarium site, in order to incorporate a wildlife park. Following this announcement, and after the acquisition of the tourist attractions at Sydney Tower and of Manly Oceanarium, Sydney Aquarium Pty Ltd changed its name to Sydney Attractions Group. Village Roadshow Limited purchased Sydney Attractions Group in late 2007. UK attractions group Merlin Entertainments bought Sydney Wildlife World as part of its acquisition of Village Roadshow assets in March 2011. The park changed its name to Wild Life Sydney Zoo (trademarked as Wild Life Sydney) and re-opened on 13 September 2011. The attraction won the Award for the best family-focused tourism at The Australian's 2007 Travel and Tourism Awards.

Design

Construction began in November 2004 on the site, and was completed in August 2006. Wild Life Sydney is unusual for a zoo or wildlife park in that the public areas are almost entirely enclosed and air-conditioned. The A$52 million development features a 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) walkway which snakes through 7,000 square metres (75,000 sq ft) of enclosures. The upper level exhibits are open-air, enclosed only by a large stainless steel mesh roof structure supported by curved beams, which were designed to look like the ribs of the rainbow serpent of Aboriginal myth when viewed from above. This open-air feature has enabled the exhibits to be landscaped naturally with live plants, including full-sized trees. The largest exhibit is the 800-square-metre (8,600 sq ft) semi-arid habitat of kangaroo walkabout, featuring 250 tonnes (280 short tons) of red sand trucked in from central Australia and full-sized bottle trees. This habitat houses Kangaroo Island kangaroos, echidnas, a quokka and koalas.

Exhibits

Wild Life Sydney Zoo is divided into ten zones, containing the following exhibits: Tricky Tongues and Treehouse

Short-beaked echidna Numbat Goodfellow's tree kangaroo Scrub python Merten's water monitor Eastern water dragon Boyd's forest dragon Northern long-necked turtle Broad-shelled river turtle White-lipped tree frogDevil's Den

Tasmanian devil Emerald dove Satin bowerbird Eastern brown snake Inland taipan Blotched blue-tongued lizard Cunningham's spiny-tailed skinkGumtree Valley

Koala Laughing kookaburra Bush stone-curlew Princess parrot Brown cuckoo-dove Gouldian finchWallaby Cliffs

Yellow-footed rock wallaby Bare-nosed wombat Red-browed finch Chesnut-eared finch Spencer's goannaDaintree Rainforest

Red-legged pademelon Southern cassowary Australian king parrot Plumed whistling duck Satin bowerbird Topknot pigeon Wonga pigeon Emerald dove Brown cuckoo-dove Red-browed finch Frill-neck lizard Boyd's forest dragon Magnificent tree frog Australian green tree frog Green and golden bell frogKangaroo Walkabout

Eastern grey kangaroo Kangaroo Island grey kangaroo Agile wallaby Quokka Galah Australian king parrot Princess parrot Cockatiel Budgerigar Spinifex pigeon Wonga pigeon White-headed pigeon Emerald dove White-browed woodswallow Chesnut-eared finch Gouldian finch Red-browed finch Chestnut-breasted mannikinKakadu Gorge

Red-collared lorikeet Saltwater crocodile Pig-nosed turtle Frill-neck lizard Central bearded dragon Dwarf bearded dragon Central netted dragon Shingleback lizard Olive python Crimson-spotted rainbowfish Banded rainbowfish Seven-spot archerfishPlatypus Pool

PlatypusNight Fall

Ghost bat Rufous bettong Bilby Yellow-bellied glider Feathertail glider Night skink Centralian knob-tailed gecko Black-headed python Woma python Spotted pythonDiscovery Treehouse

Spinifex hopping mouse Golden-tailed gecko Blue yabby Queensland whistling tarantula Sydney funnel-web spider Redback spider Wolf spider Sydney huntsman spider Goliath stick-insect Cyclone Larry stick insect Giant burrowing cockroach Mitchell's rainforest snail Superworm Giant bull antKoala Rooftop (including Koala Rooftop Cafe)

Koala

Experiences

Wild Life Sydney offers a range of experiences for their guests. These experiences include breakfast with the koalas, which entails an early morning guided tour around the zoo before a buffet breakfast with the koalas as well as a photo taken with a koala. Koala photos are also available throughout the day. Additionally, the zoo offers a behind the scenes guided tour. Private dining experiences are also available.

Details

Open days/Times: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Open Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

Suited For: Kids, Wheelchairs

Location

1-5 Wheat Rd, Sydney, NSW 2000

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Attribution

This article contains content imported from the English Wikipedia article on WILD LIFE Sydney Zoo

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