Australian Reptile Park facts for kids
.jpg) |
|
.jpg)
Entrance to the Australian Reptile Park
|
|
| Date opened | 1948 (1996 at current location) |
|---|---|
| Location | Somersby, New South Wales, Australia |
| Land area | 22 acres (8.9 ha) |
| Coordinates | 33°25′06″S 151°16′38″E / 33.418247°S 151.277222°E |
| No. of animals | 2,000+ |
| No. of species | 400+ |
| Annual visitors | 250,000+ |
| Memberships | Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA)
NSW Zoo Association (NSWZA) NSW Fauna and Marine Park Association (NSW FMPA) Australasian Society of Zoo Keeping (ASZK) |
The Australian Reptile Park is a cool wildlife park located in Somersby on Australia's Central Coast. It's about an hour's drive north of Sydney. This park is famous for having one of the biggest collections of reptiles in Australia, with almost 50 different types! You can see snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises, amazing Komodo dragons, American alligators, and huge crocodiles.
But it's not just reptiles! The park also has many awesome Australian animals. You can meet kangaroos, wallabies, cuddly koalas, unique platypuses, playful Tasmanian devils, wombats, cassowaries, quokkas, echidnas, and even dingoes.
The Australian Reptile Park does super important work. They collect venom from snakes and spiders to help make Antivenom. This special medicine has saved thousands of lives! The park is also a proud member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA).
Contents
History of the Park
The Australian Reptile Park was started by a man named Eric Worrell way back in 1948. It first opened as the Ocean Beach Aquarium in Umina Beach.
Park Milestones
- 1949 - Eric Worrell's Ocean Beach Aquarium first opens its doors.
- 1955 - The park helps create the first antivenom for Taipan snake bites.
- 1958 - The zoo moves to Wyoming, NSW and changes its name to the Australian Reptile Park.
- 1962 - Thanks to the park, a full range of antivenoms becomes available in Australia.
- 1963 - 'Ploddy' the dinosaur is put up. She becomes one of Australia's first "Big Things."
- 1970 - Eric Worrell gets an award (the MBE) for his amazing work with antivenom.
- 1980 - The long-awaited antivenom for funnel-web spider bites is finally ready!
- 1987 - Eric Worrell, the park's founder, passes away.
- 1989 - 'Eric' the saltwater crocodile arrives from the Northern Territory. He's named after the park's founder.
- 1996 - The park moves to its current home in Somersby. Ploddy the dinosaur is moved in a big parade!
- 2000 - A fire damages the main park building. But with lots of hard work and help, the park reopens just seven weeks later.
- 2007 - Eric the crocodile passes away. A new crocodile, Elvis, takes his place.
- 2008 - Park Director John Weigel receives an award (Member of the Order of Australia) for his work in tourism and antivenom.
- 2011 - John Weigel starts Devil Ark, a special place to help save the endangered Tasmanian devil.
- 2013 - The park is still the only place supplying venom for Australia's antivenom program. It's thought they've helped save nearly 20,000 lives!
- 2015 - Park Director Tim Faulkner is named "Conservationist of the Year" by The Australian Geographic Society.
- 2018 - A new exhibit for Komodo dragons opens, home to Kraken and Daenerys.
- 2019 - The park wins "Best Major Attraction" at the NSW Tourism Awards.
- 2019 - A new exhibit for endangered Goodfellow's tree-kangaroos opens.
Animals You Can See
The Australian Reptile Park is home to many amazing creatures!
Reptiles
You'll find many different Reptiles here, including American alligators, huge crocodiles, turtles, tortoises, skinks, giant Komodo dragons, monitor lizards, geckos, iguanas, pythons, speedy taipans, brown snakes, death adders, and even a King cobra.
Spiders and Other Creepy Crawlies
Get ready to see some fascinating Arachnids! The park has tarantulas, famous funnel web spiders, trapdoor spiders, huntsman spiders, giant Goliath birdeater spiders, mouse spiders, redback spiders, wolf spiders, and scorpions.
Australian Mammals and Birds
Beyond reptiles and spiders, the park also has many wonderful Australian mammals and birds. You can see cute koalas, grey-headed flying foxes, eastern grey kangaroos, energetic Tasmanian devils, wombats, wallabies, dingos, platypuses, echidnas, ring tailed possums, happy quokkas, and colourful cassowaries. Don't miss the new exhibit with Goodfellow's tree-kangaroos!
Awesome Attractions
"Ploddy" the Dinosaur
The park is home to a giant model of a diplodocus dinosaur, nicknamed Ploddy. She's thought to be one of the very first of Australia's Big Things! When the park moved in 1996, Ploddy moved too, in a big parade!
Elvis the Crocodile
Meet Elvis, the park's huge saltwater crocodile! He arrived in 2007 and is known as "Australia's crankiest crocodile." Elvis was moved from the wild because he was causing trouble for fishing boats. He's super aggressive, even towards other crocodiles! When you visit, watch him at feeding time – he loves to show off his power.
Lost World of Reptiles
After a fire in 2000, the park rebuilt its main building into something amazing: the Lost World of Reptiles! To enter, you walk through the giant jaws of a 30-metre-long crocodile model. Inside, you'll find a recreation of an ancient Egyptian temple, complete with a five-metre-tall crocodile god, Sobek. This area is home to many of the park's reptiles and is a favourite for visitors.
Spider World
Spider World is a super exciting exhibit where you can learn all about spiders! It's designed to be fun and educational, helping visitors understand the eight-legged world better. Even if you're a bit scared of spiders, you might leave Spider World laughing and with a new appreciation for them!
Komodo Dragon Exhibit
This exhibit looks like an ancient Indonesian temple and is home to the park's Komodo dragons, Kraken and Daenerys. You can see the world's largest lizards up close, sometimes even on their daily walks with zookeepers!
Alligator Lagoon
The Australian Reptile Park has the biggest group of American alligators in Australia! Over 40 adult alligators live happily together in a huge, natural-looking lagoon. This park is the only place in Australia that has successfully bred alligators, thanks to their special lagoon that feels just like their home in the wild.
Eric’s Nature Walk
Take a stroll on Eric’s Nature Walk, set in a beautiful bushland area. Here you'll find the Nocturnal House and an aviary filled with native Australian birds. There's also a cool display of a frog pond. The walk is named after Eric, the famous saltwater crocodile who was a main attraction for many years. You can also see some lovely native Australian plants, like the beautiful local waratah flower.
Nocturnal House
The Nocturnal House lets you see some of Australia's unique animals that are active at night. This was actually the first "Noctarium" (a place for nocturnal animals) in the Southern Hemisphere, built by Eric Worrell in the 1970s. You might spot ring-tailed possums, red-tailed phascogales, spinifex hopping mice, and feathertail gliders.
Frog Hollow
In Frog Hollow, you can discover amazing frogs! Each one is specially adapted to survive in different places. You'll see frog species native to Australia, and even the well-known cane toad.
Platypus House
The Platypus House, also called the 'Platypussary', is home to the park's platypus, Yaro. You'll also see native birds and fish here. Visitors can get a close look at the mysterious platypus in its special nocturnal creek habitat, complete with a waterfall!
Past Attractions
Eric the Crocodile
A huge crocodile named Eric was a star at the park for many years. Born in 1947, he was a massive attraction and had over 10,000 fans worldwide! Eric was moved from the wild because he had caused some trouble. He was very powerful, even biting off the heads of two female crocodiles at a farm! In 1989, he arrived at the Australian Reptile Park and became a major star. He was named after the park's founder, Eric Worrell. Eric the crocodile passed away in 2007. A memorial for him is now at the back of the park.
Education at the Park
The Australian Reptile Park offers many fun and educational talks and presentations! You can watch Galápagos tortoise feedings, enjoy a reptile show, or learn about Tasmanian devils, koalas, spiders, dingoes, and alligator feedings.
The park also welcomes hundreds of school groups every year. They offer special programs that teach kids about animals and conservation, linking to what they learn in school.
Antivenom Programs: Saving Lives!
The Australian Reptile Park plays a super important role in saving lives through its antivenom programs.
Snake Venom-Milking Program
Since the 1960s, the Australian Reptile Park has been the only place in Australia that provides snake venom for making antivenom. It's estimated that antivenom saves about 300 lives in Australia every year! Since this program started, around 20,000 Australian lives have been saved. The park currently has 250 venomous snakes that are part of this program. They are "milked" for their venom every two weeks.
How Snakes Are Milked for Venom
Collecting snake venom needs very careful hands and a lot of focus! Keepers at the park use two different ways, depending on the snake.
- For snakes like taipans, mulga (king brown snakes), and tiger snakes, keepers gently guide the snake's fangs to bite onto a latex cover stretched over a glass cup. The venom then drips into the cup.
- For Eastern brown snakes and death adders, keepers use a "pipetting" method. They push a small plastic tube onto the snake's fang, and the venom drops into the tube.
After the venom is collected, it's dried into crystals. These crystals are carefully scraped out, weighed, and packaged. The trained staff are extremely careful to keep the venom clean and safe.
How Snake Antivenom Is Made
Once the venom is collected at the park, it's freeze-dried and sent to a company called Seqiris in Melbourne. There, it's turned into antivenom.
The process starts with injecting tiny amounts of the snake venom into Percheron horses. Over 250 horses help with this program, living very comfortable lives. They don't get stressed during this process. Injecting the venom doesn't hurt the horses, and collecting their blood is as simple as humans donating blood.
The horses are given slowly increasing amounts of venom over about six months. This helps them build up lots of special "antibodies" against the venom. Then, blood is taken from the horse. The antibodies are separated from the blood, cleaned, and made into the usable medicine – this is the antivenom!
This antivenom is then used to treat people who have been bitten by venomous snakes. When antivenom is injected into a person, the antibodies attack the venom and stop its harmful effects. The amount of antivenom given depends on the type of snake and how much venom was injected. A person's age or weight doesn't change how much antivenom they need.
Funnel-web Spider Venom-Milking Program
Since the Australian Reptile Park started its funnel-web spider antivenom program in 1981, no one has died from a funnel-web spider bite! The park has been a huge part of this success, helping to create the antivenom and continuing to provide the venom needed to make it. The park's spider program has over 2,000 spiders, from tiny babies to full-grown males. These spiders are "milked" for their venom every week.
The park even encourages the public to safely catch funnel-web spiders they find at home and bring them to special drop-off spots. These spiders then join the park's breeding and venom-milking programs!
How Funnel-web Spiders Are Milked for Venom
Spider keepers at the park need very steady hands and lots of focus to milk funnel-web spiders. They use a small glass tube (a pipette) attached to a tiny vacuum. Keepers encourage the spider to stand up in a defensive way, then gently suck the venom from the tips of the spider's fangs.
Once all the spiders have been milked, the venom is removed from the pipette and frozen. It's then sent to Seqiris to be made into antivenom.
How Funnel-web Spider Antivenom Is Made
Turning spider venom into antivenom is a detailed process. After the venom is collected at the Australian Reptile Park, it's frozen and sent to Seqiris in Melbourne.
The Seqiris team injects very small amounts of the venom into rabbits. They slowly increase the dose over six months until the rabbit can handle six times the deadly amount! Then, blood is taken from the rabbit and spun in a centrifuge. This spinning separates the antibodies from the blood. These antibodies are what make the antivenom.
Television Appearances
Bondi Vet
The Australian Reptile Park was often featured on the popular Australian TV show Bondi Vet from 2010 to 2016. Episodes often showed Director Tim Faulkner calling Dr. Chris Brown to the park, or taking an animal to a vet clinic. From 2014, Tim became a regular part of the show, with a segment in every episode.
The Wild Life of Tim Faulkner
The park is also shown in a spin-off show called The Wild Life of Tim Faulkner. This show focused on Tim Faulkner's amazing work with animals. You could watch "The Wild Life of Tim Faulkner" on Channel 9 and the National Geographic Channel.
