Zoos of Australia

[steveroberts]

Elephants not to walk at Ebenezer, Says Colo Shire Council - Windsor and Richmond Gazette - 3 Dec 1969

Canberra animal-park plan - The Canberra Times - 5 Dec 1979

ACT animal park to take 5 years - The Canberra Times - 7 Dec 1979


Didnt realise there once was a very small zoo at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains: Trove Article on Tourist Attractions in or around Sydney - Australian Women's Weekly (3 Dec 1980): ''Wentworth Falls Zoo in the Blue Mountains. Deer and kangaroos roamfree. Barbecue and picnic facilities, walk trails, refreshments. Open every day except Christmas Day, 9am to 5pm. Adults $1.50, pensioners $1, children 50c. Turn off the Great Western Highway at Wentworth Falls Brown Horse Restaurant, follow signposts past Bodington Hospital.''

 

[steveroberts]

Bullen's Animal World [Wallacia - Sydney] (1970-1985) Old Map Flickr

 

[Jambo]

Bullen's Animal World [Wallacia - Sydney] (1970-1985) Old Map Flickr

Bullens certainly had quite an impressive collection back then - what makes it more impressive is that this was a circus, and not the only site Bullens had operating at the time.

The wide diversity of ungulates, big cats, primates, small cats and even birds is certainly not something to gloss over. The large herd of elephants would've been a site to see, as would have been the large drive through portion, and the monkey drive through section (which I believe shows Tamarins?). I wonder how the experience would have been to view them from a vehicle.

 

[Zoofan15]

Bullen's Animal World [Wallacia - Sydney] (1970-1985) Old Map Flickr

What an incredible collection. A considerable amount of space was dedicated to tiger holdings (I see a cage block of three, plus a larger cage block,‘which may or may not have been subdivided).

I’m intrigued to see chimpanzees were not only accommodated in a cage block adjacent to other primates, but on an island. Longleat Safari Park decided a similar concept for exhibiting their chimpanzees.

Thanks to Bullens, the genes of one of the founder chimps (Molly) have been retained in the region, with Gandali at Rockhampton (son of Holly from Bullens) being her sole descendant.

 

[Jambo]

What an incredible collection. A considerable amount of space was dedicated to tiger holdings (I see a cage block of three, plus a larger cage block,‘which may or may not have been subdivided).

I’m intrigued to see chimpanzees were not only accommodated in a cage block adjacent to other primates, but on an island. Longleat Safari Park decided a similar concept for exhibiting their chimpanzees.

Thanks to Bullens, the genes of one of the founder chimps (Molly) have been retained in the region, with Gandali at Rockhampton (son of Holly from Bullens) being her sole descendant.

It would be interesting to know how many chimps Bullens had at the time.

Apparently said Bullens collection also once had dolphins and seals. Would have been a sight to see!

 

[Zoofan15]

It would be interesting to know how many chimps Bullens had at the time.

Off the top of my head, I know of the following chimpanzees being sent there by zoos in the region:

Taronga Zoo:

1.0 Jordie (30/03/1957) Sailor x Spitter

Wellington Zoo:

1.0 Bobo (23/10/1962) Tom x Molly.
0.1 Sara (06/04/1968) Tom x Yoka

Bobo and Sara were the parents of Deanne, who gave birth to Holly in 1988.

 

[Chlidonias]

... the monkey drive through section (which I believe shows Tamarins?). I wonder how the experience would have been to view them from a vehicle.

The monkey drive-through had baboons, as did most monkey drive-throughs of the era (e g. in England where it started). Many places (possibly Bullens as well) switched to rhesus macaques later as they were less destructive to visitor cars.

 

[steveroberts]

The monkey drive-through had baboons, as did most monkey drive-throughs of the era (e g. in England where it started). Many places (possibly Bullens as well) switched to rhesus macaques later as they were less destructive to visitor cars.

Yeah I saw on facebook someone mentioned remembering hw the top of their family's car was damaged by a monkey in the drive-through. Wonder if was a baboon which did that (like how the chacma baboons in suburban Cape Town jump up on parked cars in streets sometimes and dent the metal of the roofs). Didn't realise rhesus macaques were technically less damaging, but considering their body-size and weight is notably smaller than all baboon species that makes sense (had assumed Bullens probably had rhesus, long-tailed/crab-eating and maybe even brown capuchins back in the day (maybe stump-tailed macaques and bonnet macaques too given there were apparently some still in Australia in private hands until about fifteen to twenty years ago, maybe longer).

@Jambo Had read somewhere they had dolphin at the Warragamba African Lion Safari 'down the road' but didnt't realise that seals at one point too.

@Zoofan15 Yeah I really liked seeing the island setup too, grass under feet or soil in contrast to a cage block. Apparently the site of the park was about 1.21 sq kms so not that every exhibit would be completely to scale, but imagine the lake island was a good size. That's great that Longleat did the same for their chimpanzees (was cool Chester had their chimpanzees with day-time access to some moat surrounded peninusla/'islands' outside the Tropical House beginning from late 1950s or early 1960s) imagine many other zoos drew inspiration from. Longleat was an earlier open range zoo in England hey.

Had forgotten that Holly and Louie/Luis the chimps who went to Mogo had been with the Bullens before they went to the Padeys (I wasnt sure if were of an age where they were already alive when the Animal World was still open as had forgotten their ages, but think they were maybe).

 

[Steve Robinson]

monkey drive through section (which I believe shows Tamarins?).

The pic appears to show a Tamarin but I only recall ever seeing Rhesus housed therein.

 

[Steve Robinson]

Bullens collection also once had dolphins and seals.

They were at the Warragamba Lion Safari and Dolphinarium - not too far away.

 

[Zoofan15]

@Zoofan15 Yeah I really liked seeing the island setup too, grass under feet or soil in contrast to a cage block. Apparently the site of the park was about 1.21 sq kms so not that every exhibit would be completely to scale, but imagine the lake island was a good size. That's great that Longleat did the same for their chimpanzees (was cool Chester had their chimpanzees with day-time access to some moat surrounded peninusla/'islands' outside the Tropical House beginning from late 1950s or early 1960s) imagine many other zoos drew inspiration from. Longleat was an earlier open range zoo in England hey.

Had forgotten that Holly and Louie the chimps who went to Mogo had been with the Bullens before they went to the Padeys (I wasnt sure if were of an age where they were already alive when the Animal World was still open as had forgotten their ages, but think they were maybe).

Luis was born 1982 at Bullens; Holly was born 1988, with her mother dying the following year.

I’ll have to check what notes I have regarding the parentage of Luis as I’ve found one source online that says he was a brother of Holly; another that says he was a half-brother. He’s been dead for years and has no living descendants, so truthfully, I’ve never paid his ancestry much attention versus Holly, who has a son at Rockhampton.

 

[steveroberts]

Luis was born 1982 at Bullens; Holly was born 1988, with her mother dying the following year.

I’ll have to check what notes I have regarding the parentage of Luis as I’ve found one source online that says he was a brother of Holly; another that says he was a half-brother. He’s been dead for years and has no living descendants, so truthfully, I’ve never paid his ancestry much attention versus Holly, who has a son at Rockhampton.

Oh right cool he has the Spanish style spelling Luis for his full name, that's cool. With Holly being born three years after the Animal World closed down, I wonder if some of the animals went to the Lion Safari at Warragamba for a while too when that was the remaining park open to visitors in western Sydney until sometime in 1991 (otherwise stayed on site at Wallacia obvs'). That's what forgot to mention add above, thats really cool that Molly's genes are represented through Gandali thanks to the Bullens, really cool, thanks for pointing that out.

 

[steveroberts]

But on the Bullen's Animal World map I gather the symbol for the giant crocodile with the word Monster next to was a giant painted statue of a crocodile, and not a captive saltwater crocodile named Monster.

 

[Zoofan15]

Oh right cool he has the Spanish style spelling Luis for his full name, that's cool. With Holly being born three years after the Animal World closed down, I wonder if some of the animals went to the Lion Safari at Warragamba for a while too when that was the remaining park open to visitors in western Sydney until sometime in 1991 (otherwise stayed on site at Wallacia obvs'). That's what forgot to mention add above, thats really cool that Molly's genes are represented through Gandali thanks to the Bullens, really cool, thanks for pointing that out.

It was a nice surprise to find out Molly still had a living descendant in the region. She was part of an import of seven tea party chimpanzees to New Zealand in 1956 and the four sent to Auckland and one of the three sent to Wellington (Breena) have no living descendants.

The sixth (Yoka) is one of the region’s most well represented founders; a stark contrast to Molly’s one descendant. Fingers crossed Gandali will one day sire offspring at Rockhampton Zoo.

 

[steveroberts]

Thanks to Vanessa Berry. A visitor map of the old African Lion Safari at Warragamba (looks like was likely the original setup when the park first opened with the lions and cheetah also before additional animals were established there too like the tigers, bears, seals and dolphins. Cool blog too Vanessa wrote about Warragamba in general on the page also. (Not sure if this map has been shared before already?).

https://mirrorsydney.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/warragamba/

 

[Zoofan15]

Thanks to Vanessa Berry. A visitor map of the old African Lion Safari at Warragamba (looks like was likely the original setup when the park first opened with the lions and cheetah also before additional animals were established there too like the tigers, bears, seals and dolphins. Cool blog too Vanessa wrote about Warragamba in general on the page also. (Not sure if this map has been shared before already?).

https://mirrorsydney.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/warragamba/

Thanks for sharing @steveroberts, I’d never seen this map before, so it’s interesting to see what the layout was like.

It appears the park managed multiple prides across multiple exhibits, which makes more sense than a massive field containing a single (albeit huge) pride that would probably be hanging out in one corner, leaving visitors with little to see on the rest of the route.

 

[steveroberts]

Thanks for sharing @steveroberts, I’d never seen this map before, so it’s interesting to see what the layout was like.

It appears the park managed multiple prides across multiple exhibits, which makes more sense than a massive field containing a single (albeit huge) pride that would probably be hanging out in one corner, leaving visitors with little to see on the rest of the route.

Oh no worries. Yeah that makes heaps of sense as to why multiple large prides makes more sense for the park to have had. The park itself was over half a sq km (51 hectares thereabouts) so did well for space (believe technically the first open-range zoo in Australia).

↓ This is the site where the park was if you're interested in seeing (now half streets full of houses, half under construction for houses - though probably complete now and aerial satellite shot from few years ago - with street names acknowledging the history of the site: Bullens Dr, Kilimanjaro St, Stafford St, Leopard St, Tiger St, Chad St, Lake Victoria Way, Tsavo St, Nukuru St, Serengeti Ct, Safari Dr - am surprised there doesn't seem to be a street called Lion Dr or Lion anything to be honest lol.
Google Maps - Warragamba (and an old aerial from 2002 for anyone who has Google Earth can see the Lion Park's roads and layout: Google Earth - Warragamba)

And this ↓ very likely was some of the area that was part of the Bullen's Animal World grounds, as from what can tell the area that is now Zambi was to the east of the main grounds of the Animal World park area (believe the Bullens family had about 240 hectares maybe a bit more, of which half was used for the park grounds):
Google Maps - Wallacia (might not be the spot, but is said the address for was 11 Park Rd). But based on the fact that the demolished airplane strip at Wallacia seen on the map was said to be located about here Wallacia Airport | YWLX | Pilot info | Wallacia, Australia)

 

[steveroberts]

...

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

*Malcolm Douglas Wilderness Wildlife Park (Broome) [aka Malcolm Douglas Crocodile Park And Animal Refuge; including the former Broome Crocodile Park] http://www.malcolmdouglas.com.au/wildernesspark.html
*Ocean Park Aquarium [formerly just Ocean Park] (Shark Bay) Home - Ocean Park
*Rainbow Jungle (Kalbarri) http://www.rainbowjunglekalbarri.com/index.html
*Hammond Park (Kalgoorlie) Hammond Park
*AQWA: The Aquarium Of Western Australia (Perth) AQWA - The Aquarium of Western Australia
*Caversham Wildlife Park (Perth) [ZAA member] Australian Native Animals Park with Petting Zoo and Farm Show
*Cohunu Koala Park (Perth) Website Unavailable
*Perth Zoo (Perth) [ZAA member] Home
*Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre (Lesmurdie) [ZAA member] Kanyana Wildlife | Caring for sick, injured and orphaned wildlife.
*Armadale Reptile and Wildlife Centre (Wungong) Armadale Reptile & Wildlife Centre - Western Australia
*Western Australian Birds Of Prey Centre (Swan Valley) Home - Western Australian Birds of Prey Centre
*Ranger Red's Zoo and Conservation Park (Ravenswood) [formerly Peel Zoo] [ZAA member] Redz Zoo
*Bunbury Wildlife Park (Bunbury) [formerly Big Swamp Wildlife Park] http://www.bunburywildlifepark.com.au/SitePages/Home.aspx
*Quindalup Fauna Park (Quindalup)
*Capes Raptor Centre (Margaret River) [formerly Eagles Heritage] http://www.eaglesheritage.com.au/
*Naturaliste Reptile Park (Carbunup River) http://www.margaretriver.com/members/naturaliste-reptile-park/
*Wave Rock Wildlife Park (Hyden) http://waverock.com.au/activity/the-wildlife-park
*Parrot Jungle Bird and Reptile Park (at Denmark Dinosaur World) (Denmark) http://dinosaurworld.com.au/
*Discovery Bay [aka Discovery Bay's Walk On The Wild Side] (Albany) http://www.discoverybay.com.au/australian-wildlife/
*Yongergnow Australian Malleefowl Centre (Ongerup) http://yongergnow.com.au/
...

* Landsdale Farm (Darch) https://landsdalefarm.org.au/

Not sure when it opened (sometime before 2018), and (probably) of no interest to Zoo-chatters, but just for the listings.

 

[ramsayi]

* Landsdale Farm (Darch) Landsdale Farm

Not sure when it opened (sometime before 2018), and (probably) of no interest to Zoo-chatters, but just for the listings.

'lansdale farm' took over 'lansdale farm school' in 2018 wich opened sometime before 2006 (earliest time i can find on wayback machine for the website)

 

[steveroberts]

'lansdale farm' took over 'lansdale farm school' in 2018 wich opened sometime before 2006 (earliest time i can find on wayback machine for the website)

Oh thankyou. Was actually curious about after finding out about the place (was looking at where Caversham had moved to bit over twenty years ago at Whitman Park, as haven't visited it there but did at the original site years ago; and long story short while looking at northern inland suburbs of Perth, saw the Landsdale Farm on the map). It's good that theres a children's farm for Perth city kids to visit with their families or school excursions. Theres a few in Sydney that have been operating for decades, not really many if any ZooChatters animal parks of interest and intrigue lol; but imagine almost all of us still love farm animals still, and glad there are a few city farm animal parks for city kids to go to in addition to zoos, aquariums, reptile parks and bird parks in the areas too.