The Cairns area is astonishingly well-endowed with captive wildlife venues. In Cairns itself is the Cairns Wildlife Dome and an Aquarium; in Kuranda about half an hour away are the Australian Butterfly Sanctuary, Birdworld, Australian Venom Zoo (on the site where the Noctarium used to be), Kuranda Koala Gardens, Rainforestation, and a wildlife rescue centre called BatReach; a bit further west is the Cairns Wildlife Safari and a bit north the Cairns Tropical Zoo. There are even more as you head north of there towards the Daintree area. Of all of these on a recent visit, the only one I had any time to visit was the Cairns Wildlife Dome (and BatReach but that's not a zoo of course).
The Wildlife Dome is situated on the top of the Casino and opened in 2003, prior to which it was just a conservatory. All the wildlife displayed here is native to the north Queensland area. Being on top of a building its not overly large; in fact if you didn't stop to look at anything you could complete a circuit in about two minutes. However it is well worth a visit if you're in town, especially if bird photography is your interest, in which case you could easily spend an hour or more.
In the centre of the Dome is a show arena where scheduled talks are held on the birds, reptiles and the other inhabitants. Various enclosures are situated around the perimeter of the Dome, going clockwise from the entrance: a mixed lizard exhibit (water and bearded dragons, blue-tongues, and Merten's water monitor); a mixed pen for northern bettongs, Papuan frogmouths and kookaburras (although I'm not sure how the kookaburras are persuaded to stay put unless they are wing-clipped, which seems unlikely); a walk-through pen for red-legged pademelons, inside which is also the white-lipped tree frog terrarium; two not-very-nice koala enclosures; the "freshwater billabong" housing freshwater crocodiles and turtles; amethystine python ("scrub python") terrarium; and a glass tank for a potted specimen of the stinging tree. In the centre above the show arena, viewable both from above and through a glass underwater window in the pademelon pen, is the pool for the big saltwater crocodile Goliath.
The whole Dome is planted out with native plants such as fan palms and there are about thirty species of birds flying free inside. When you enter you are given a "Bird Spotters Guide" with photos of all the species in the Dome so you can identify what you see. Most of the birds are relaxed around the visitors and there are walkways going up amongst the "canopy" so it would be easy to get good photos of birds that would be difficult in the wild.
I don't think anyone would rave about the Wildlife Dome but equally there's really nothing that can be said against it. It just is what it is. Even the price can't be complained about: its $22 for an adult, discounted to $15 if you enter after 5pm -- but the ticket is valid for FIVE DAYS!!! What other zoo lets you in free for the next four days after your first visit? Plus the ticket gets you 50% off the entry fee for The Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary at Port Douglas (which is owned by the same organisation, the CAPTA Group). Alternatively you can buy a "4 Park Pass" for $80 for the Wildlife Dome, Rainforestation, Butterfly Sanctuary, and Rainforest Habitat (yes, all are owned by the CAPTA Group). In fact the only complaint I had was just about my own bad timing because I got held up on my way there and so when I got to the Dome the light quickly got too poor to take many good photos, and I wasn't going to be in town for any of the next four days so I didn't have the opportunity to return for better chances.
There are photos in Cairns Wildlife Dome » ZooBeat Photo Gallery
The Wildlife Dome is situated on the top of the Casino and opened in 2003, prior to which it was just a conservatory. All the wildlife displayed here is native to the north Queensland area. Being on top of a building its not overly large; in fact if you didn't stop to look at anything you could complete a circuit in about two minutes. However it is well worth a visit if you're in town, especially if bird photography is your interest, in which case you could easily spend an hour or more.
In the centre of the Dome is a show arena where scheduled talks are held on the birds, reptiles and the other inhabitants. Various enclosures are situated around the perimeter of the Dome, going clockwise from the entrance: a mixed lizard exhibit (water and bearded dragons, blue-tongues, and Merten's water monitor); a mixed pen for northern bettongs, Papuan frogmouths and kookaburras (although I'm not sure how the kookaburras are persuaded to stay put unless they are wing-clipped, which seems unlikely); a walk-through pen for red-legged pademelons, inside which is also the white-lipped tree frog terrarium; two not-very-nice koala enclosures; the "freshwater billabong" housing freshwater crocodiles and turtles; amethystine python ("scrub python") terrarium; and a glass tank for a potted specimen of the stinging tree. In the centre above the show arena, viewable both from above and through a glass underwater window in the pademelon pen, is the pool for the big saltwater crocodile Goliath.
The whole Dome is planted out with native plants such as fan palms and there are about thirty species of birds flying free inside. When you enter you are given a "Bird Spotters Guide" with photos of all the species in the Dome so you can identify what you see. Most of the birds are relaxed around the visitors and there are walkways going up amongst the "canopy" so it would be easy to get good photos of birds that would be difficult in the wild.
I don't think anyone would rave about the Wildlife Dome but equally there's really nothing that can be said against it. It just is what it is. Even the price can't be complained about: its $22 for an adult, discounted to $15 if you enter after 5pm -- but the ticket is valid for FIVE DAYS!!! What other zoo lets you in free for the next four days after your first visit? Plus the ticket gets you 50% off the entry fee for The Rainforest Habitat Wildlife Sanctuary at Port Douglas (which is owned by the same organisation, the CAPTA Group). Alternatively you can buy a "4 Park Pass" for $80 for the Wildlife Dome, Rainforestation, Butterfly Sanctuary, and Rainforest Habitat (yes, all are owned by the CAPTA Group). In fact the only complaint I had was just about my own bad timing because I got held up on my way there and so when I got to the Dome the light quickly got too poor to take many good photos, and I wasn't going to be in town for any of the next four days so I didn't have the opportunity to return for better chances.
There are photos in Cairns Wildlife Dome » ZooBeat Photo Gallery
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