Mammals

Birds

Reptiles

Amphibians

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Reptiles at the park include Saltwater Crocodile, lizards such as Goannas, Water Dragons and Frill-necked Lizard. You will see a range of venomous and non-venomous snakes such as Olive pythons, Black-headed pythons, Woma, Carpet Pythons, Tiger Snakes, Death Adders, Dugites and Mulga Snakes. You will have the opportunity to touch the turtles or hold a python, and there is also a venomous snake show.

Roger is also a volunteer snake remover and gets about ten to fifteen snake alert calls a day during snake season. He relocates problem snakes well away from human habitation. The most venomous snakes commonly found in the Busselton shire area are Dugites and Tiger Snakes, although they are not aggressive snakes. Most snake bite events occur when people try to kill or catch the snake themselves.

Naturaliste Reptile Park is located at Carbunup River about ten minutes south of Busselton and twenty minutes North of Margaret River. It is 100m down Wildwood Rd off the Bussell Highway at Carbunup. The Park is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 4pm.

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Reptiles exhibited at Snakes Downunder include Saltwater Crocodiles, Lace monitor, Frill necked Lizard, Perentie, Sand monitor, Central Bearded Dragon, Angle-headed Dragons, Tiger Snake, Coastal Taipan, pythons, Eastern Brown Snake, Red-bellied Black Snake and various turtles and frogs. There is a walk-through tropical vivarium housing lizards such as dragons and several frog species. There are two Snake shows each day starting at 10am and 11:45am. At the snake show you will see the snakes handled and presented up close in the arena. Each snake show is different, with the first featuring a huge scrub python and the second featuring the world’s five most venomous snakes. There is a Crocodile show and feeding at 12:30. After each show you will have the chance to handle a python and a young Saltwater Crocodile – there is no extra charge for handling.

Facilities at the park include a café selling refreshments and souvenirs, picnic tables under shady trees and you are welcome to bring your own picnic lunch. For anyone with an interest in reptiles, this is a pleasant place for a visit with friendly and helpful staff.

Snakes Downunder Reptile Park is located at 51 Lucketts Road about 3km east of Childers and about 55km south of Bundaberg. The Park is open six days a week from Thursday to Tuesday from 9am to 3pm (closed on Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day).

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If you have always wanted to get into a pool with a crocodile large enough to eat you, then this is the ideal place to do it. You can swim alongside the crocodiles in a pool separated from the crocodile pool by a thick transparent wall. If that is not adventurous enough, you can try “Cage of Death” where you will be lowered in a special hexagonal cylindrical diving cage into one of the crocodile enclosures for a close up encounter with huge salt water crocodiles. The cage does not get fully submerged so you can still come up for air, but is lowered deep enough for you to dive within arm’s length of the crocodiles. (A significant additional charge applies for the Cage of Death experience).

Apart from the crocodiles, there is a very impressive range of other Australian reptiles with over seventy species of reptiles from northern Australia are on display. (Crocosaurus Cove claims to have the largest display of Australian native reptiles anywhere in the world). There are interactive exhibits for children, and they can get close to baby crocodiles in the Croc Kids bubbles. There is also a turtle sanctuary and a two storey tall freshwater aquarium with about fifteen species of fish from the rivers and floodplains of northern Australia, including barramundi. During the day there are a number of talks and presentations including crocodile feeding and reptile feeding.

Facilities at Cove include a licensed café and a souvenir shop selling Northern Territory gifts and souvenirs. You will also see displays of local Northern Territory Aboriginal Art and culture. Crocosaurus Cove has a number of function facilities catering from small groups to cocktail functions for 550 people.

It will take you an hour or two to see everything at Crocosaurus Cove, and you will find it an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours while you are in Darwin. (If you get the chance, you should also try to get out and see the crocodiles in the wild in their natural habitat as well.)

Crocosaurus Cove is located in the heart of Darwin on the corner of Mitchell and Peel Streets. The attraction is open every day from 8am to 8pm.

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The concept that developed into what is now Crocodylus Park has its origins back in the 1970s. Back then the population of wild Saltwater crocodiles was severely depleted having only been protected in the Northern Territory since 1971. In 1977, Professor Grahame Webb set up a small company, which later became Wildlife Management International (WMI), to conduct crocodile research. Meanwhile the wild population of Saltwater crocodiles started to grow, and started to become a public concern, escalating with two fatal attacked in 1979 and 1980. Professor Webb realised that a new approach to crocodile management was needed to allow public acceptance of large wild populations of saltwater crocodiles. The approach was through public education, scientific research, and through crocodile farming to make the crocodiles of economic value to the community.

Throughout the 1980s WMI was actively involved in promoting the conservation and management of crocodiles. But by the 1990s availability of public funding to support crocodile research was declining, as crocodile numbers were increasing and the crocodile was not perceived as endangered anymore. The decision was made to restructure WMI and develop a commercial enterprise to reduce dependence on public funding. WMI staff came up with a plan to build an international research centre on crocodiles of the world, with focus on research into captive breeding of Australian crocodile species. Crocodylus Park was the eventual outcome of that change of direction with Stage 1 opening in August 1994. The park included a crocodile museum to make available to the public the results of years of research. At the time, there was no other museum like this elsewhere in the world.

The park has developed as a tourist attraction, and has added a collection of exotic animals, including big cats and primates. Guided tours which operate at regular intervals throughout the day, and you will have good opportunity to see the crocodiles in action at feeding time. Try to keep up with the tour guides so you get a good place to view when they move from enclosure to enclosure. On the crocodile farm you can see breeding enclosures, juvenile crocodile enclosures, and lots of crocodiles basking beside ponds. The sheer number of crocodiles at the facility is impressive.

There is café at the Park, and there are some crocodile leather products available for sale. The museum is worth a look, and has some interesting exhibits and information about crocodiles. There are stuffed crocodiles, skeletons and skins. You can learn how they examine crocodile stomach contents.

As well as the Australian Saltwater Crocodile, the Park also exhibits the Australian Freshwater Crocodile, American Alligator, Philippine Crocodile and New Guinea Crocodile. Other reptiles you will see are Rhinoceros Iguana, Fijian Crested Iguana, Green Iguana, Boa Constrictor, Corn Snake, Blood Python, Carpet Python, Hawksbill Sea Turtle, and Pig-Nosed Turtle

The Park has an exotic animal section includes big cats and monkeys. The cat collection features Lions, Tigers, a Persian Leopard, Ocelots, and a Fishing cat. Primates on display are the Cotton-top Tamarin, Common Marmoset, Black-handed Spider Monkey, Pig-tailed Macaque and Black-capped Capuchin. The enclosures for the cats and monkeys are small compared with what you would expect to see at a larger modern zoo.

There is not a large range of Australian mammals; you will see animals such as Wallabies, Wallaroos, Common Wombat and Dingo. Some of the Australian native birds you will see in the Park are Emus, Southern Cassowary, Jabiru, Rainbow Lorikeets and various ducks and water birds such as Egrets.

Crocodylus Park is located at 815 McMillans Road, Knuckey Lagoon. The park is open every day (except Christmas Day) from 9am to 5pm.

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The tropically landscaped gardens have ponds with fish and turtles and man made waterfalls creating a relaxing spot for guests, and a sanctuary for birds and butterflies.

The Tropical Retreat offers accommodation in their recently renovated cabins. These cabins are ideal for a weekend retreat, or an overnight stay for visitors to Litchfield National Park. Each cabin is free standing with en suite, queen size beds and air conditioning. The cabins open out onto the tropical gardens and the Butterfly Farm and are close to the restaurant, pool and amenities.

The restaurant caters for about forty guests and is a pleasant venue for weddings, group retreats and business functions. Here you can enjoy a meal in elegant surroundings. The Butterfly Farm offers fine à la carte dining featuring fresh vegetables and herbs. Guests can enjoy indoor dining or alfresco from breakfast until late. You can also order a picnic hamper to take with for a day trip – a good idea if you are heading out to Litchfield National Park for the day.

Batchelor Butterfly Farm and Tropical Retreat is located at 8 Meneling Road, Batchelor about 100km south of Darwin. Admission to the Butterfly Farm is free for Retreat guests, but has an admission charge for other visitors.

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Now at high tide, hundreds of fish including mullet, milkfish, bream, catfish and barramundi come into the shallows to be fed. The fish are packed close together as they jostle for food and come close enough to touch. Many other species such as rays, mangrove jack, cod and diamond fish can also be seen lurking in the shallow waters. The numbers of fish that arrive varies each day according to the tide, season and weather conditions. Morning feeding sessions are usually best, and fish numbers are highest between December and August.

Aquascene staff will give you bread to feed the fish. You can wade out into the water to hand feed the fish from at the bottom of a long sloping ramp. There is seating is available if you want to watch from the sidelines, or throw food from a distance. There is a small kiosk on the site selling cold drinks, ice creams and souvenirs.

Aquascene is located at 28 Doctors Gully Road in Darwin. The attraction is open every day, tides and weather permitting (except Christmas Day). Opening time is dependent on the high tide time and varies from day to day. Aquascene is open for about two or three hours around the high tide. You need to check with Aquascene when it will be open on the day you plan to visit. Opening times are printed in local publications, and should be available from your accommodation or Darwin tourist information centres.

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Every day there are various reptile talks and feeding sessions, and opportunities to hold some of the more docile reptiles. Talks are conducted at 11am, 1pm and 3.30pm daily. The Fossil Cave Exhibition contains replicas of fossil specimens showing the reptiles that once inhabited Australia.

School groups are catered for with guided tours of the Reptile Centre, education and awareness, and opportunities to handle reptiles. Reptile Awareness courses provided by to corporations, agencies and resorts on reptile awareness and first-aid techniques. The Reptile Centre also provides a service to photographers, television and film crews by making a range of reptile species available for photo shoots and film shoots. Reptiles from Alice Springs Reptile Centre have featured in several publications and film and TV shows including Filming an Olive Python (National Geographic), American Visa card (TV commercial), Animal Hospital (Channel 9, Australia), Untamed Australia (documentary for the Discovery Channel) and numerous other productions.

The Reptile Centre was in the news in 2008, when a seven-year-old boy broke into the park early one morning and threw ten reptiles into the Saltwater Crocodile enclosure, and bludgeoned other lizards to death. Reptiles killed included four Western blue-tongued lizards, two bearded dragons, two thorny devils, a goanna and a turtle.

Alice Springs Reptile Centre is located at 9 Stuart Terrace, Alice Springs, opposite the Royal Flying Doctors Service, and backing on to Billy Goat Hill reserve. The Reptile Centre is open from daily from 9:30am to 5pm. During the winter the best viewing time is between 11am and 3pm when the reptiles will be at their most active.

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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.

A highlight of the park is the Tasmanian Devils at Devils Heaven. You can see the devils feeding at 10:30 am, 1 pm and 3:30 pm followed by the opportunity to pat of one of the young devils. Devils Heaven is home to a growing colony of Tasmanian Devils, with about thirty animals. The colony at Devils Heaven started with six orphaned devils whose mothers died from the deadly Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), an aggressive transmissible cancer that has caused the death of Tasmanian Devils in eastern parts of Tasmania. At the time it was unknown whether the young carried the disease, but the young devils survived with no sign of the disease. The animals remain disease free, and now three generations later there has been no occurrence of the disease in the colony. It is now established that mothers do not pass on DFTD to their young.

Night tours round the Park are available. Your tour starts with a barbecue meal including hamburgers, sausages, steak, chops and salad. You then head out on a Safari Bus to see the nocturnal animals. You might see Wombats, Wallabies, Possums, Quolls, and maybe a Tasmanian devil.

Facilities at the park include a reception centre, a cafeteria with balcony overlooking the wildlife park and the fishing lakes in the distance. Snacks and drinks are available, as well as a range of gifts and souvenirs. Barbecues are available in the zoo for your use, without additional charge.

Tasmania Zoo is open every day (except Christmas Day and Good Friday) .from 8:30am to 5:30pm during daylight saving, and from 9am to 4:30pm in winter.

Trout Fishing

Also on the property is Launceston Lakes, a private trout fishing reserve. There are five lakes surrounded by natural bush land. The three largest lakes are about 300m long and over 100m wide. Launceston Lakes caters for private fly fishing for trout and offers visitors tuition in angling. The lakes are stocked with brown trout and rainbow trout, with fish up to six kilograms. Only fly fishing is allowed, and you don’t need any fishing licence. Near the lakes there are barbecue and picnic facilities, with a play area for children.

Tuition is available with four hour lessons from experienced guides. Your guide will kit you out with the right gear and take you to one of the lakes for fly fishing lessons. After you have mastered casting you can go out onto the main lakes for solo fishing. Trout Fishing can be booked for half day or full day fishing. If you already know how to fly fish, you can hire gear only for half a day or full day. Fishing is catch and release only.

Wet & Wild Buggies

On the property is a 17km bush circuit where you can drive round the bush track, and through mud and water in an all terrain buggy. The circuit takes about 30 minutes. Drivers must have at least a Learners Drivers Licence. This is a separate operation to the zoo, and bookings are essential.

Getting There

Tasmania Zoo and Launceston Lakes is situated at 1166 Ecclestone Road, Riverside about 20 km west of Launceston.

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The Visitors Centre has various educational displays, including a devils den which you can see into from inside the Centre, or from the outdoor viewing deck. You can take a guided tour round the Sanctuary to get a close up experience with a Tasmanian devil. Keeper guided tours operate hourly. On the tour, a keeper will explain the Tasmanian Devil life cycle and the impact of threats such as Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD), an aggressive transmissible cancer that has caused the death of Tasmanian Devils in eastern parts of Tasmania. You may even get to touch a devil on the tour. The Centre can cater for tour for individuals, small groups and large groups such as coach groups and conferences.

You are free to wander through the sanctuary at your leisure see the animal in their dens, sun baking, play fighting or searching for food. There are lots of adults, juveniles and baby devils housed in landscaped viewing enclosures with natural looking habitat.

Night feeding tours operate every day at 5:30pm with additional 8:30pm tour during daylight savings. Devils are primarily nocturnal and a lot more active at night. Under environmentally sensitive lighting, you will see the devils socializing and see the power of their jaws and teeth as they tear apart their meal in a group feeding session.

The Sanctuary runs a Captive Breeding Program to help maintain a viable captive population, with the intention of release and reintroduction into the wild at a later date. The sanctuary is committed to the long term conservation of the Tasmanian Devil, to assist in ensuring the species survives in healthy numbers in the Cradle Mountain wilderness. The breeding program has been very successful with five devils raised in the first breeding season, and eleven young raised in the second breeding season. Some of these young will be released to the wild, and some will be sent to other zoos and sanctuaries to increase the breeding diversity. A rehabilitation program has also been implemented to hand rear orphaned baby devils and rehabilitate injured devils for release back into the wild.

The Devils@Cradle Tasmanian Devil Sanctuary is located at 3950 Cradle Mountain Road, just 500 metres from the entrance to the Cradle Mountain National Park. The Centre is open daily from 10am to 4pm.

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