Healesville Sanctuary





This "zoo" is exclusively of Australian fauna only, set in a large area of native bushland. There are many displays throughout the day telling visitors more of the finer points of the inhabitants.

The enclosures are very roomy, with several walk through enclosures. There is a main pathway with smaller paths running off this which leads to the animals.

There is a cafeteria on site. Healesville is located about 120 kilometres from Melbourne.
Just browsing through your review pages, I was surprised by Nigel Foster's under-appreciation of Healesville Sanctuary, Victoria, Australia. To say that Melbourne has pretty much everything that Healesville would have is very misleading.

To be sure, nearly every Australian collection these days has a large section on Australian animals, and Melbourne has upped this in recent years (I've been three times since 1992, most recently late last year) but Healesville not only specialises in Australian animals but in endangered Victorian animals such as Leadbetter's Possum, Helmeted Honey-eater, Superb Lyrebird and, of course, the Platypus where they were the first to breed it (and had twins in 1999!).

Yes, Melbourne is excellent and getting better. When its master plan is complete it will compete with the best in the world. Already, I think the gorilla exhibit is the best I have seen, and that includes San Diego. But Healesville Sanctuary to me is the complete zoo, the only one I have ever visited where the visitor can actually see the three aims of zoos in practice; conservation with their breeding of endangered species, research - for example into the causes of bush die back and education with their excellent educational centre.

I would need to find my notebook to demonstrate that Healesville has much more to offer the visitor in the way of Australian wildlife than Melbourne but the best way is simply to go there - and on Victoria's superb integrated transport system it is easy and cheap to do on public tranport.
This Australian Zoo situated in natural bushland on the outskirts of the small Victorian town of Healesville claims the largest collection of Australian animals in the world. Devoted entirely to animals indigenous to South-Eastern Australia, it can also boast being the only institution in the world to have bred the rare and elusive platypus. This is supported by the newly built platypus facility that is a very natural and educational exhibit immersing you in the underwater world of the Zoo's flourishing colony.

The Zoo is very conservation based and breeds many highly endangered animals such as the helmeted honeyeater and Orange bellied parrot and regularly introduces them back into the wild.

Don't miss the Birds of Prey Show; it is truly amazing watching eagles and owls flying within centimetres of your head. Other attractions include the many walkthrough exhibits such as the kangaroo and wallaby enclosures, aviaries and the billabong (wetlands) exhibit. If you want to see Australian wildlife in a natural setting there is no place better to go than Healseville Sanctuary.

Please click if you do not see the map of Oceania