Australian Zoos closed due to COVID-19

Simon Hampel

Simon Hampel

Administrator
Staff member
20+ year member
Thought it might be a good idea to collate the current status of Australian zoos for reference in case people were planning on visiting.

Please post updates and changes of status for your local zoos, include a link to latest news if available.

As of:
14th March 8AM EDT
19th March 8AM EDT
21st March 7AM EDT
24th March 1PM EDT
28th March 8AM EDT

Closed

NSW

VIC
QLD
SA
WA
ACT
TAS
NT

----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

Open

SA

ACT
NT
 
Last edited:
Moonlit Sanctuary will not close unless required to.
 
Sydney Zoo: COVID-19 UPDATE

To help make Sydney Zoo a safe place to visit, we have put these extra precautions in place:
  • We will be limiting the number of people in the zoo
  • Ensuring the ticket scanning procedure involves no direct contact
  • We will be accepting cashless, card payments only
  • Providing over 75 hand sanitising stations throughout the zoo
  • Indoor areas without significant ventilation, including the Reptile & Nocturnal House and the Aquarium, are closed
  • Tables in our food and beverage outlets have been spaced to allow for social distancing
  • Increased cleaning schedules in high traffic areas
  • A fast and direct exit is now in place to accommodate social distancing
  • Keeper Talks and our Aboriginal Cultural experience have been postponed
 
Last edited:
COVID-19 notice | Taronga Conservation Society Australia

Taronga Zoo Sydney
  • Introduced measures to limit the number of people in grounds on any given day
  • After much consideration, Taronga will be closing its Sky Safari cable car an initial 2 week period from Wednesday 18 March
  • Indoor animal exhibit spaces have been closed to our day visitors and fencing is being discretely used to minimise touching of glass at exhibits
  • Audience capacity in our shows and talks is being reduced to enable social distancing
  • Seating across our food and beverage facilities set up for social distancing
  • We have also significantly reduced the presence of our highly valued volunteers in grounds and are implementing measures for staff to follow social distancing
  • The Wildlife Retreat has reduced occupancy levels to encourage social distancing. Read more about the measures in place for the Wildlife Retreat to ensure your stay is a safe one
  • From Wednesday 18 March, cash is temporarily not being accepted on site
  • Reusable cutlery and keep-cups are temporarily not available on site. These have been replaced with our fully biodegradable alternative

Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo
  • The Zoo Ball will be postponed to a date later in the year. Ticket holders, sponsors and suppliers have been notified
  • Volunteer shifts have been ceased at Taronga Western Plains Zoo as a precaution with the safety of our volunteers being the priority
  • Reduced the duration of keeper presentations to reduce people gathering for longer periods of time on site
  • Reduced capacity of some of the tours and experiences on site
  • Zoofari Lodge has reduced occupancy levels to encourage social distancing and changed the dining experiences
  • Changes to seating layouts and dining experiences at the Zoo Café & Bar to encourage social distancing
  • From Wednesday 18 March, cash is temporarily not being accepted on site
  • Reusable cutlery and keep-cups are temporarily not available on site. These have been replaced with our fully biodegradable alternative
 
Zoos Victoria: Coronavirus Update

To ensure you can practice safe social-distancing and remain 1.5m away from each other, the changes at your zoos include:
  • All animal encounters, camps and keeper talks have been cancelled
  • All upcoming events, including member events, have been cancelled
  • The safari bus at Werribee Open Range Zoo has been cancelled
  • All indoor spaces are closed. This includes:
    • Healesville Sanctuary: Future Vets, Reptile House, Pouch House, Cool Conservation, FE Headquarters, Heritage Shelter, Creek Play, the Nocturnal House and all function spaces
    • Melbourne Zoo: Keeper Kids, Growing Wild, Butterfly House, Platypus House, In The Deep, Reptile House, Digest Ed and Ranger Station
    • Werribee Open Range Zoo: Ranger Kids and all function spaces
We are contacting ticketholders for all encounters and other booked events up until April 30 to arrange a refund.

Places to get food and drink, as well as our Zoo Shops remain open.
 
All of the zoos I've checked are still open for business - although as noted, some encounters, camps, keeper talks and certain indoor exhibits without good ventilation are closed in some zoos.
 
SEA LIFE Sydney: Covid-19 – Information for Guests
SEA LIFE Melbourne: Covid-19 – Information for Guests

In line with the latest announcements from the Australian Federal Government with regard to further travel bans and indoor mass gatherings of over 100 people, we are closely monitoring capacity and the number of people in our attractions and we have also placed an immediate stop on some of our experiences, with others are still running in line with social distancing recommendations. Please see the experiences page of the website for more details.
 
not much point visiting Werribee Zoo if the buses aren't operating, more than half of the animals wouldn't be seen. I wonder if the entry prices are reduced as a result.
 
MRJ said:
Just to be clear, Moonlit Sanctuary is in Victoria.
Click to expand...

Oops - I thought it didn't look quite right, but in my defence, the website needs fixing!

upload_2020-3-20_6-59-33.png

Now that I pay more attention, of course I realise it's supposed to say "Sanctuary" - instead, I was rushing and so my brain was tricked.

Anyway - thanks for the correction - fixed it in the list above.
 

Attachments

  • upload_2020-3-20_6-59-33.png
    upload_2020-3-20_6-59-33.png
    37.2 KB · Views: 37
  • Like
Reactions: MRJ
Simon Hampel said:
Oops - I thought it didn't look quite right, but in my defence, the website needs fixing!

View attachment 433882

Now that I pay more attention, of course I realise it's supposed to say "Sanctuary" - instead, I was rushing and so my brain was tricked.

Anyway - thanks for the correction - fixed it in the list above.
Click to expand...
Obviously something the developers missed - must say I don’t often look at it on a phone. Thanks, will get it fixed.
 
Anyone planning on visiting a Zoos Victoria property please also be aware that they have closed all ticket counters for non-pass holders. You have to book/pay on your phone and then have the barcode scanned to enter.
 
Symbio Wildlife Park:

To ensure our hygiene and to enable guests to maintain safe social-distancing at all times, we’re implementing the following measures effective from Saturday 21st March 2020;

  • We will only accept card payments
  • Animal feed will not be sold for hand feeding our farm animals and kangaroos
  • All animal encounters, camps and keeper talks have been postponed
  • All education programs have been postponed
  • Some indoor areas may be restricted i.e Reptiles and Mini beasts
  • Our Kiosk and Zoo Shop will remain open
  • Our Adventure Playground and Splash Park will remain open
 
Last edited:
Changes for Taronga Western Plains Zoo Dubbo:
  • Seating for the Zoo Café & Bar will be outdoor only from Saturday 21 March
  • Billabong Camp has reduced capacity for further bookings
  • Zoo Adventures school holiday program for the Easter school holidays is cancelled
  • All animal encounters and tours postponed until further notice
    Changes to capacity for indoor events such as weddings and functions in accordance with the 4m₂ per person requirements. Options offered include reducing attendance, alternate outdoor venue or postponement of event
  • Zoofari Lodge has reduced occupancy levels, changed dining experience and seating layout in accordance with the 4m₂per person requirements. Safari truck tours have been postponed until further notice
 
ZoosSA:

In response to the current situation:
  • At Monarto Safari Park, we’re working with our bus partner Link SA to ensure our buses are clean and we’re exploring additional cleaning measures.
  • In addition to considering the implications of COVID-19 on our staff, volunteers and guests, we are also thinking about our amazing animals. Based on current evidence, the risk of exposure is likely limited to our primates. As a result, we have decided to cancel all BAE and BTS experiences with our primates. We are also erecting fencing to maintain a distance of 2 metres between our primates and zoo guests, based on social distancing guidelines to restrict transmission of respiratory viruses.
  • We’re reducing the capacity of our Lions 360 experience to 20 people each day. This is being introduced to enable social distancing at this time.
  • We’re also weighing up our future events calendar to determine what is appropriate and what can be deferred to ensure we enable social distancing at our sites.
  • We are working with the public who had a function booked and would like to postpone or cancel.
  • Adelaide’s wildest accommodation offering ‘Wild Nights’ has been postponed until further notice.
  • Our Zoo Learning Zoocation school holiday program has been cancelled for the upcoming school holidays and we’ve cancelled Zoo Learning’s upcoming Career Awareness Day.
  • Zoos SA has postponed or cancelled all business related international travel and all employees, volunteers, to self-isolate after returning from personal international travel.
  • We are increasing the number of Zu-loop buses in operation at Monarto Safari Park to ensure visitors have space to social distance themselves and feel comfortable. In doing so, we respectfully ask that visitors show patience and kindness to others when it comes to seating on the bus.
  • Behind the Scenes animal experiences are reduced in size to allow social distancing

Animal Experiences and Behind The Scenes Tours

The following experiences are either cancelled or had numbers reduced effective from Saturday 21st March;

Monarto Safari Park
Cancelled:
  • Keeper for a Morning
  • Keeper for a Day
  • Meet the Chimps
  • Lions & Wines
Reduced capacity:
  • Giraffe Safari – reduced to 6 guests
  • L360 – reduced to 20 guests per tour
  • Rhino Express – reduced to 6 guest per tour

Adelaide Zoo
Cancelled:
  • All Primate tours
  • VIP Panda tour
  • Keeper for a Day
Reduced capacity:
  • Panda & Friends – reduced to 20 guests
  • Tiger Encounter – reduced to 4 guests
Giraffe Feeding experience – increased from 3 days to 7 days.
 
AQWA:

In line with Government regulations, our visitor numbers will be capped at 100 people in the building at any one time. We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to keep you informed of any changes in advice from the Government.
 
Cleland Wilfelife Park:

  • All of our koala experiences (including koala holding, perch and feeding tours) and other facilitated animal experiences with our keepers have been suspended as we aren’t able to meet social distancing requirements.
 
Gorge Wildlife Park:

The safety and wellbeing of our staff, animals and customers is foremost and to encourage social distancing recommendations, our daily Koala sessions have been cancelled (effective 20/3/20) until further notice.

Our reptile presentations on the weekend will still go ahead, however there will be no close up touching of the animals and we will encourage visitors to respect social distancing at these sessions.

Kangaroo Walk Through Exhibit:

In the interest of the health of our animals and public, our walk through Kangaroo enclosure is closed due to veterinary treatment. Please be aware this is not in relation to the Covid-19 situation but due to unrelated veterinary treatment. We understand this is an inconvenience but the health and well-being of our animals and visitors is always our first priority.
 
Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary:

In an effort to best protect all staff and guests, the following changes have been made to our some of our daily activities:

Koala Hold Photos:
We have suspended koala hold photos until the situation improves.

You can still meet a koala, touch its fur and receive a professional photo (inc. high-resolution download) beside one of our keepers for $25. This experience will be available from 9:00am each day, until sold out.

Snake & Raptor Photos:
These photo experiences are cancelled until the situation improves.

Barn Animal Encounter:
This experience is cancelled until the situation improves.
 
ReefHQ Aquarium:

With the introduction of the new social distancing recommendations we are suspending all talks and tours at this time. We are also restricting the number of people in the Aquarium at any one time to 100 (including staff).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top