Koala Park Sanctuary facts for kids
Koala Park Sanctuary
|
|
| Date opened | October 1930 |
|---|---|
| Location | 84 Castle Hill Road, West Pennant Hills, Sydney, Australia |
| Land area | 10 acres |
| Coordinates | 33°44′31″S 151°2′42″E / 33.74194°S 151.04500°E |
| No. of species | 24 |
The Koala Park Sanctuary is a special wildlife park in West Pennant Hills, a suburb north of Sydney, Australia. It's a private park that covers about 10 acres. This sanctuary is famous for its many koalas and other amazing Australian animals. It feels like a rainforest, making it a great home for the animals. The park's main goal is to show off native Australian animals and birds. It also teaches people about them. Every year, around 400,000 visitors come to explore the park.
Contents
History of Koala Park Sanctuary
The Koala Park Sanctuary started being built in the 1920s. It first opened its doors in October 1930. The park is located on a large piece of land. This land was originally known as Koala Park in the late 1920s. The souvenir shop and snack bar were once tea rooms. However, the location was quite windy in winter. This made it hard to keep the animals healthy at first.
A person named Noel Burnet was an environmentalist. He saw that many koalas were being hunted for their fur. At that time, people didn't know much about protecting nature. The fur trade was even seen as helpful for Australia's economy.
Because of this, the Koala Club of Australia decided to help. They wanted to protect koalas and treat them kindly. Noel Burnet wrote about how koalas had disappeared from national parks. He wondered why people thought they could be brought back. He noted that even in a large, protected water supply area, no koalas could be found.
Noel Burnet spent the rest of his life studying koalas. He worked hard to protect their homes.
Animals at the Park
The Koala Park Sanctuary is a walk-through wildlife park. This means you can stroll around and see the animals up close. Most animals are kept safely behind wire fences or in special cages. Here are some of the animals you can see at the park:
- Koalas
- Peacocks
- Little penguins
- Cockatoos
- Dingoes
- Emus
- Kangaroos
- Wallabies
- Wombats
- Echidnas
- Many different Australian native birds
Exciting Events and Shows
The park offers a fun live show called "The Stockman's Camp." In this show, you can watch a sheep shearing exhibition. This happens at different times throughout the day. The show also shares interesting stories about life in the Australian bush.
The park also lets visitors gently interact with some animals. They follow special rules for this. These rules are from the Queensland Code of Practice. They make sure the animals are safe and comfortable during these interactions.
Koala Conservation Efforts
The Koala Park Sanctuary opened a special koala research hospital in 1930. This hospital helps sick and injured native animals. Once the animals are healthy, they are released back into the wild. The hospital is open to visitors. It teaches people about native animals. It also explains the problems koalas face when living near humans.
Noel Burnet knew that koalas were at risk of disappearing forever. The Koala Park was very successful at breeding koalas. In its first 11 years, sixty koalas were born there. The park says it was the first sanctuary to successfully breed koalas in captivity. The park started without any money from the government.
See also
- Koala Farm, Adelaide
- Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Brisbane
