Wild Life Sydney
Wild Life Sydney complex, pictured in 2014, across Darling Harbour
33°52′12″S 151°12′6″E / 33.87000°S 151.20167°E / -33.87000; 151.20167
Date openedSeptember 2006 (2006-09)
LocationDarling Harbour, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Land area7,000 square metres (75,000 sq ft)
Memberships
Major exhibits10 Zones
OwnerMerlin Entertainments
Public transit access
Websitewww.wildlifesydney.com.au

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, 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.[3]

History

In May 2006, Sydney Aquarium 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 changed its name to Sydney Attractions Group. Village Roadshow purchased Sydney Attractions Group in late 2007.[4] 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 and re-opened on 13 September 2011.

The attraction was named the best family-focused tourism at The Australian's 2007 Travel and Tourism Awards.[5]

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

Devil's Den

Outback Shack

Wallaby Cliffs

Daintree Rainforest

Kangaroo Walkabout

Crocodile Billabong

Platypus Pool

Night Fall

Koala Rooftop (including Koala Rooftop Cafe

    Experiences

    Wild Life Sydney offers a Koala Photo experience where guests can get close to the Koala's and take a quality photo with them.

    See also

    References

    1. ↑ "Member Location Map". zooaquarium.org.au. ZAA. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
    2. ↑ "Zoos and Aquariums of the World". waza.org. WAZA. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
    3. ↑ Starkey, Erina (20 September 2016). "Join us on City Safari! The best places to find nature in Sydney". The Daily Telegraph. Australia. Retrieved 2 October 2016.
    4. ↑ Village Roadshow wins battle for Sydney Attractions Group Attractions Management 11 February 2008
    5. ↑ e-Travel Blackboard: Australia's Number One Industry Newsletter

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