The only way it seems now to enter the exhibit is through a guided tour (free). You book your name at the start of the entrance to the whole trail for set times (cannot remember).
Sorry for the late reply but even on my visit on a weekday this week, nearly a year later from your post, a booking is still required in order to enter the exhibit. Sadly I don't think it is going to change anytime soon.
Surely this is not what was originally envisaged by Taronga? Ideally the walkthrough would be staffed by volunteers like Melbourne's (where their role is mostly to keep people on paths, prevent feeding, answer questions) with visitors allowed in and out at will. The Taronga system seems very difficult to manage, and not satisfactory for visitors. Sounds like they'd be better off making it not walkthrough at all, and instead using it for paid encounters.
Surely this is not what was originally envisaged by Taronga? Ideally the walkthrough would be staffed by volunteers like Melbourne's (where their role is mostly to keep people on paths, prevent feeding, answer questions) with visitors allowed in and out at will. The Taronga system seems very difficult to manage, and not satisfactory for visitors. Sounds like they'd be better off making it not walkthrough at all, and instead using it for paid encounters.
Yeah, not sure why they are using this system? I guess different safety policies could apply, or the fact that the exhibit is (much?) smaller than Melbourne's so the animals don't have as much room to get away from people and the pathways would be jam packed (in which case it comes down to poor exhibit design).
