OzAnimals Travel

Archive for the ‘Tasmania’ Category

Tasmania Zoo is situated in the foothills of the Tamar Valley, about eighteen kilometres from Launceston. The Zoo is on about 360 hectares of native bushland and is home to over fifty species of native and exotic animals, including the Devils Heaven Tasmanian devil facility.

Australian animals include Tasmanian Devils, Wombats, Echidnas, Kangaroos, Wallabies, Quolls, Sugar Glider, Possum and Koala, as well as some lizards and snakes. There are also various native birds including King Parrots, Rosellas, Lorikeets, Cockatiel, Budgerigar, Galah, Black Cockatoos, Corellas, Emu and Wedge-tailed Eagle. Exotic animals exhibited include Macaque monkeys, Deer, Alpacas and some exotic birds.

The Devils@Cradle Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary is a wildlife conservation facility at Cradle Mountain near the entrance to the World Heritage area of the Cradle Mountain National Park. Devils@Cradle is a specialized facility that focuses on the Tasmanian Devil, and also on Tasmania’s other carnivorous marsupials, thee Eastern Quoll and Spotted-tail Quoll. The ten hectare property is mostly undeveloped bushland with forest and grasslands habitat, with panoramic views of Cradle Mountain and the surrounding area.

Bonorong Wildlife Conservation Centre is a wildlife park located about 40 minutes drive north of Hobart. Bonorong specializes in education, conservation and care of native Tasmanian animals. The Centre was established in 1981 as a sanctuary for injured Tasmanian wildlife.

The park is home to Australian animals, such as Kangaroos, Wallabies, Wombats, Tasmanian Devils, Spotted Quolls, Sugar Gliders, Echidna and various birds. Wildlife Tours are conducted each day at 11:30 am and 2pm by experience keepers who provide wildlife interpretation with a strong conservation message. The tours include a wombat encounter, devil feeding and close up with koalas. Koalas are not naturally occurring in Tasmania, but you can these well-loved marsupials in gum trees at the Centre. The rangers provide you with special food to hand feed the Forester kangaroos (the Tasmanian subspecies of the Eastern Grey Kangaroo).

The Tasmanian Devil Conservation Park is located in Taranna on Tasman Peninsula just over an hour from Hobart. Visitors to the park have the opportunity to see Tasmanian Devils up close. The Park opened in 1978 and was the first Tasmanian Devil centre in the world. One of the highlights of a visit to the Park is seeing the Tasmanian Devils being fed. They are quite aggressive as they growl and snarl and tear up the food, crushing the bones with their powerful teeth and jaws. The devils are fed three or four times a day, with feeding at 10am, 11am, 1.30pm and 5pm (4.30pm in winter). “Devils in the Dark” is a guided tour that starts at dusk, and gives you the opportunity to see the Tasmanian devils and other nocturnal animals at their most active. (Times for the nocturnal tour vary, and the tour is only available for part of the year).

Wing’s Wildlife Park is a family owned park located at Gunns Plains in Tasmania. The Park displays a large collection of Tasmanian wildlife, caters for the rehabilitation of injured and orphaned wildlife, and also offers accommodation. As you would expect at a Tasmanian wildlife park, Wing’s exhibits Tasmanian Devils. The Park has a breeding colony of Tasmanian devils, none of our which have been captured from the wild. The colony was started from orphaned young that were handed in, and all the devils thee now have been bred at the Park. Some of the young devils are kept at Wing’s Wildlife Park, and others are sent to other zoos and sanctuaries around Australia. As well as breeding devils, they also breed owls, quolls, bettongs and possums.

ZooDoo Wildlife Park is located about 6km from Richmond in Tasmania. The ninety acre park was originally an Ostrich Farm and Miniature Pony Stud. Zoodoo officially opened in 1999 with a small collection of Australian native animals. Zoodoo is now one of the largest wildlife parks in Tasmania with a range of Australian native and exotic animals. With the addition of the Bengal Tiger exhibit (Tigerland) in 2008, and the new African Lion exhibit in 2009, ZooDoo continues to expand.

South Bruny National Park is situated on the southern tip of Bruny Island off the Tasmanian south east coast. The park stretches along the coast from Fluted Cape to the southern part of Great Taylors Bay. Bruny Island is separated from mainland Tasmania by the D’Entrecasteaux Channel.

The area was designated South Bruny National Park in 1997 for its magnificent coastal scenery with towering cliffs, rocky headlands and long sandy beaches. The park extends several kilometres from the shore in some parts protecting areas of rainforest with several endemic plant species. South Bruny National Park is a popular tourist destination where visitors are attracted by the rugged coastal scenery and rich bird life. Adventure Bay has sheltered swimming areas, as does Jetty Beach. Cloudy Bay is a popular surfing spot.

Trowunna Wildlife Park started caring for native animals about 30 years ago. The Park houses the largest heritage population of endangered Tasmanian Devils in the world. Trowunna is unique in that it only cares for native Tasmanian fauna, except for the Koalas which have been bred there for over 20 years. Trowunna has been used as a natural setting to capture native wildlife for numerous photo shoots, documentaries, and television shows over the past 30 years.

King Island is situated in Bass Strait, between Victoria and Tasmania. The only commercial trip you can get to the island is by plane, with the flight taking about 50 minutes from either Victoria or Tasmania. The island is about 64km long by 27km wide and is a popular tourist destination, with long peaceful beaches, rocky coasts, nature reserves, shipwrecks off the coast and a lighthouse.

King Island has a pleasant maritime climate with moderate temperatures throughout the year, and good rainfall to support a strong local agricultural industry. Conditions can turn rough through with gales often reaching over 100km per hour. Temperatures are roughly five degrees warmer in winter and five degrees cooler in summer than on the mainland.