Australia Zoo

The Australia Zoo is a 100-acre zoo located in the state of Queensland on the Sunshine coast of Australia. It is owned by Terri Irwin, the widow of Steve Irwin. It was first opened in the 1970s by Steve's parents.

I've been to a few zoos around the world, and my friends and I reached the consensus that we generally liked the vibe of this one. The animals seemed to have plenty of room, appeared happy and well-fed/taken care of. They don't seem "caged" at all, most of the attractions tend to be walk-through enclosures and the animals seemed almost free to walk as far as they wanted for the most part.


They also have an animal rescue and rehabilitation centre which visitors can visit after zoo areas for a couple dollars extra. The cost to enter the zoo, as of 2011 is $59.99 AUD per adult.

There are shows that feature elephants and crocodiles. We watched a crocodile deomonstration where a man lured a croc out of the water with a fish and then fed him. He also made the croc jump from the water later by holding a fish well above the water's surface. Some interesting demos were done with birds, tigers and elephants as well. The staff all seemed not only knowledgeable, but genuinely interested in their animals and educating people about them.
We had our photos taken with a very tired looking kuala bear for $15 each, and I felt sorry for how many hands he must get placed into every day. I can only hope he gets to change shifts with another kuala when he gets tired. They also had a free-roaming kangaroo enclosure where you can pay a few dollars for food to feed them. We walked through the enclosure to pet and get photos with them, but opted out of attempting to feed them since none of them looked hungry.

All in all, what I liked about this zoo was that it sends a very clear message of the importance of environmental protection to prevent extinction of these animals, and education on how to act should you ever encounter these animals in the wild. A very good day. Well recommended.