Healesville Sanctuary

By JAMES ANTHONY

Visitors to Victoria who are interested in seeing Australian wildlife in a natural zoo setting should not miss an oportunity to go to the Healesville Sanctuary east of Melbourne.

Healesville Sanctuary has more than 200 species of wildlife in 31 hectares of bushland enclosures.

Recently I took the children along and we spent four hours wandering around the well-pathed and signposted sanctuary, checking out the birdlife, patting wallabies, and even touching a snake during a supervised reptile encounter. People may freak out at the thought of that but they feel so much nicer than you would think and the kids were entranced.

There are wetlands areas where you can see the graceful Brolgas and pelicans, giant aviaries to catch sight of magnificent parrots, flying foxes and owls, and check out the nicely named Frog Bog.

As you wander around the enclosures you'll meet up with some rather friendly critters in the form of kangaroos and wallabies and they are more than happy to stop for a pat. My two were utterly besotted with the friendly one who seemed to enjoy the attention so much it licked my daughter's hand.

One of the outstanding exhibits has to be the World of the Platypus, where you walk into a darkened room and can get to see the cute marsupial enjoying itsaelf in its underwater environment.

Other Australian fauna include emus, goannas, snakes, wombats, echidnas, koalas, possums and magnificent birds of prey, which also feature in Meet the Keeper flight presentations.

The Healesville Sanctuary can be heartily recommended as one of the top tourist places to visit in Victoria.

Open Hours

Healesville Sanctuary is open every day of the year, including Christmas Day and all public holidays, from 9am to 5pm.

Exhibits with restricted hours:

Platypus 9.30 to 4.30
Animals of the Night 10.00 to 5.00
Walk-Through Aviairies 9.00 to 5.00
Dingoes 9.00 to 5.00
Birds of Prey 10.00 to 3.30
Reptile Encounter 9.00 to 5.00

Meet the Keepers

Wombats 11.00am to 2.00pm
Reptiles 11.30am and 1.30pm
Bird of Prey 12.00pm 12.00pm & 2.30pm on weekends and public holidays
Koalas 1.00pm and 3.30pm
Platypus 1.30pm
Pelicans 1.45pm
Lyrebirds 2.00pm
Dingoes are walked daily through the Sanctuary.

Prices

Adults (16 years and over) $17.50
Children (4 to 15 years, children under 4 years free) $8.50
Children with disabilities (under 16 years of age) $4.00
Family Pass (2 Adults & 2 Children) $43.50
(2 Adults & 3 Children) $48.50
(2 Adults & 4 Children) $53.50
(2 Adults & 5 Children) $58.50
Concession (including pensioners and health care cardholders) $13.00
Group Discounts (10% on adult rate is available for pre-arranged tours of 20 or more people.) $15.80
Note: The zoo does not charge GST on gate admission prices.