Wild Life Sydney is a wildlife park in the city of Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. Officially opened in September 2006, it is located on the city side of the Darling Harbour leisure and retail precinct, next to Sydney Aquarium

Sydney Aquarium

Sydney Aquarium is a public aquarium located in the city of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the eastern side of Darling Harbour to the north of the Pyrmont Bridge...

.

Wild Life Sydney is a full institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

World Association of Zoos and Aquariums

The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums is the "umbrella" organisation for the world zoo and aquarium community. Its mission is to provide leadership and support for zoos, aquariums, and partner organizations of the world in animal care and welfare, conservation of biodiversity, environmental...

 (WAZA).

History

In May 2002, 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

Merlin Entertainments

Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd is a British operator of amusement parks and other attractions. It is the largest such company in Europe, and globally the second largest after Walt Disney Parks and Resorts....

 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 (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

The Australian

The Australian is a broadsheet newspaper published in Australia from Monday to Saturday each week since 14 July 1964. The editor in chief is Chris Mitchell, the editor is Clive Mathieson and the 'editor-at-large' is Paul Kelly....

'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 1km walkway which snakes through 7,000 square metres 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 semi-arid habitat, featuring 250 tonnes of red sand trucked in from central Australia and full-sized bottle trees. This habitat houses a mob of adult red kangaroos.

Exhibits

Wild Life Sydney is made up of 10 key zones, comprising viewing-only, as well interactive, exhibits:

• Butterflies
• Other invertebrates
• Reptiles
• Kakadu Gorge
• Koala rooftop
• Nocturnal
• Semi-arid grasslands
• Rainforest
• Wallaby cliffs
• Koala sanctuary

Recent developments

In December 2009 the attraction unveiled a new Northern Territory-themed enclosure called Kakadu Gorge, which houses a near-5 metre male saltwater crocodile named Rex. The A$5m enclosure is bordered by viewing galleries both above and below the waterline, offering visitors guaranteed views of Rex. Several species of fishes and bird are also kept in the enclosure.

External links