The last time I visited the Healesville Sanctuary was ten years ago, back in 2007. For some reason I hadn't made a return visit since, despite being back and forth through Melbourne on several occasions. So when passing through the city last week I made sure that I got back out there.
Healesville is about 70km from central Melbourne. Getting to the zoo from the city is pretty straightforward - you just take the train to Lilydale station and then catch bus #685 straight to the entrance, taking about two hours all together - but you do need to ensure you plan it properly because the bus schedule is not very frequent. (And on other days it may be bus #684).
The sanctuary is devoted solely to native Australian wildlife, and it is a fantastic place. Not only is there are remarkable number of species to interest Zoochatters (even local ones I suspect) but the lay-out and plantings perfectly complement the animals, and the enclosures are generally great. Mammals and birds are well-covered - especially the birds, which so often get short-shrift in animal collections - and there is a reasonable number of reptiles. I think a good invertebrate house would not go amiss though: Australia has so many arthropods which would make interesting and effective displays that it seems a shame that they are not better represented here.
The sanctuary is laid out with paths in two large loops, with a smaller loop off the top. There are a couple of short-cut paths too, but it is easy to follow the loops around and ensure you see everything. There is a surprisingly large amount of ground to cover - or perhaps it just seemed that way because there were so many enclosures and aviaries everywhere. I was probably also spending longer at each one than I normally do at zoos because almost all the species were interesting to me. Usually, in a regular zoo, I will breeze pretty quickly past the typical zoo animals - the tigers and chimps and ostriches - but at Healesville the "typical" animals are more in the wombat and koala line and they are heavily outnumbered by the likes of lyrebirds and mountain pigmy possums. There are also a lot of walk-through aviaries (eight of them, no less!), in which I was lingering to try and find birds.
..............................................
I'll quickly mention the herptiles first before moving onto the mammals and birds. There are a few individual reptile enclosures dotted about the park but being winter these weren't all occupied. Even in Australia a number of the reptiles hibernate, or at least disappear from view until the warmer months.
Most of the reptiles are therefore in the reptile house which, while small, is very nice indeed. The tanks are mostly of a good size in relation to their inhabitants - not large but not too small - although some of the snakes were in my opinion too big for their space. Several of the exhibits were mixed, but annoyingly the signage was of the revolving electronic form so you have to stand there and wait for the different panels to come up on the screen. I understand these look attractive in a modern sort of way, and probably make it easier to update the information than replacing a physical sign, but they are a pain in the butt as a visitor!
Not all the reptiles in the main tanks were from Victoria (in fact a lot of them were from much further north), but at the end of the house was a section where you can look through windows into the "off-show" area. Right by the windows are small tanks for some of the threatened local species which Zoos Victoria works with, including the guthega skink and alpine she-oak skink. The latter wasn't on show, but I suspect this was, again, because it was winter. There were also Burton's legless lizards here.
..............................................
Most of Australia's native mammals are nocturnal so there aren't a huge number displayed in outside enclosures at Healesville, and those are all the larger and more "typical" ones. The macropod area was under renovation so there was just a smaller temporary walk-through with red and Kangaroo Island kangaroos, with a wallaby walk-through on the other side of the park. The latter had brush-tailed rock wallabies alongside the more usual red-necked and swamp wallabies. Koalas and some very active echidnas were in a fairly extensive set-up near the entrance. The koala enclosures were what could be considered standard - cut-off trees in which the koalas sit - but there was a raised walkway winding between the enclosures and an effort had been to make the whole area look "natural" with plantings. The Tasmanian devils also had a very nice set of large enclosures. Next to the devils were wombats, and there were dingos elsewhere.
Platypus are one of the main attractions at Healesville I think. I don't believe I've ever heard of a bad experience with platypus there - they always seem to be very active and visible in the platypus house. The viewing corridor is darkened, the tanks semi-lit. Two of the tanks hold platypus, and the others hold fish and Australian water rats. The only water rat I could see was sitting up the back of the enclosure, basically a silhouette, but both the platypus were very obvious. There is also an outdoors pool, but this is used for show periods so I didn't see it.
All the other mammals displayed at Healesville are in the nocturnal house. I have certain issues with nocturnal houses because I love them in theory but so often they disappoint with small exhibit space and inappropriate inhabitants. Australian nocturnal houses, however, are generally excellent. I think this is mostly by virtue of the species being quite small and yet very active when awake so making a good display, and I think too that marsupials are just not as easily stressed in a nocturnal house environment as higher mammals. That last point may be entirely inaccurate, but that's the perception I have when viewing them. Australian nocturnal houses generally use red light as well, as opposed to white or blue light, which helps immeasurably.
Healesville's nocturnal house is a basic loop. The enclosures are all quite large (there are just a couple of smaller ones for spinifex hopping mouse and - empty on my visit - fat-tailed dunnart) and even though I was in there at 2pm on a Saturday with a fair amount of noise from other visitors, all the animals were very showy. The only one which couldn't have been said to be active was the sugar glider, of which I saw only one and only on my second pass around the house. The hopping mice were a bit shy as well, possibly because their living space wasn't all that large. The species line-up in here is brilliant - apart for the "usual" sorts like long-nosed potoroo and bilby, there were Leadbeater's possums, mountain pigmy possums, squirrel gliders, and eastern barred bandicoots.
..............................................
Birds. I like birds, as any sensible person does. Healesville has lots of them, and many of them - indeed, most of them - are in walk-through or walk-in aviaries. Not just common old birds either, but apostlebirds, eastern yellow robins, superb lyrebirds, helmeted honeyeaters ....
I tend to think walk-through aviaries should be as big as possible, both for effect and for the comfort of the birds (as soon as visitors can enter the birds' living space then their living space needs to be increased to offset that). But most of the ones at Healesville are relatively small, and yet still work very well both as exhibits and apparently from the birds' perspective (judging by their relaxed behaviour). All of the following are walk-through aviaries.
Australia is the Land of Parrots, and here there is an actual section called Land of Parrots which consists of two large walk-throughs staffed with volunteers. (I have to say, too, that all the volunteers [and staff] I met at the park were brilliant). The first of the two aviaries was for larger parrots (red-tailed black cockatoo, king parrot, eclectus, rainbow lorikeet) and a few "extras" (blue-faced honeyeater, satin bowerbird, and red-browed finch), while the second was for smaller birds (budgie, cockatiel, scaly-breasted and musk lorikeets, regent parrot, bush stone-curlew, and apostlebird).
The lyrebird aviary was a thickly-planted aviary which really did look like genuine forest. The lyrebird pair were quite new and shy so I only got a glimpse, but there were a lot of other Victorian forest species in here like eastern yellow robin, silvereye, white-browed scrubwren and superb fairy wren.
The Woodlands aviary was so well-planted that several of the species inside I failed to find (sacred kingfisher, superb fairy wren, and painted buttonquail) but some time spent lurking meant I saw all the others, including white-eared honeyeater, eastern whipbird, and star finch.
In contrast, the small Arid walk-through aviary was a representation of desert so all the birds were easily visible. Some particularly nice species alongside the finches were golden-shouldered parrot, scarlet-chested parrot, and swift parrot.
The Endangered Species aviary was attached to a building in which most of the zoo's mountain pigmy possums were hibernating and where the corroboree frogs are displayed. The aviary itself had helmeted honeyeater as well as a range of not-so-endangered birds like brush bronzewing, emerald dove, and black-breasted buttonquail. The orange-bellied parrots were off-display at the time of my visit but are usually in this aviary. The only species I missed in here was the rose-crowned fruit dove.
The Wetland aviary was great - a very large pond netted over and viewed from two access point. There is a "bird-watcher" hide on one side with a lot of signage about wetland birds and the statement that you can always tell a birdwatcher because they are wearing a hat. I'm pretty sure I've seen Batman wearing a hat and I don't think he's a birdwatcher. Unless it's penguins.
The final walk-through aviary at the park is just labelled "Kookaburras" on the map, but there's a photo in the gallery calling it the Flooded Forest aviary. Usually there are fruit bats in here but they had all been removed for some reason, as apparently had the various pigeon species. Despite it being a "Flooded Forest", the only watery birds in there were pied stilts - otherwise there was a pair of frogmouths, a male regent bowerbird, a black-faced cuckoo-shrike, and a kookaburra.
..............................................
I've put a few photos in the gallery here: Healesville Sanctuary - Photo Galleries | ZooChat
I will add a species list below (as in, those species on display on my visit).
There is a 2012 review by Hix here, so you can compare the species (there have been some notable changes): Healesville Sanctuary - A Visit to Healesville
[I note, also, that he didn't see any platypus in the platypus house which refutes my opinion that nobody doesn't see them in there!]
Healesville is about 70km from central Melbourne. Getting to the zoo from the city is pretty straightforward - you just take the train to Lilydale station and then catch bus #685 straight to the entrance, taking about two hours all together - but you do need to ensure you plan it properly because the bus schedule is not very frequent. (And on other days it may be bus #684).
The sanctuary is devoted solely to native Australian wildlife, and it is a fantastic place. Not only is there are remarkable number of species to interest Zoochatters (even local ones I suspect) but the lay-out and plantings perfectly complement the animals, and the enclosures are generally great. Mammals and birds are well-covered - especially the birds, which so often get short-shrift in animal collections - and there is a reasonable number of reptiles. I think a good invertebrate house would not go amiss though: Australia has so many arthropods which would make interesting and effective displays that it seems a shame that they are not better represented here.
The sanctuary is laid out with paths in two large loops, with a smaller loop off the top. There are a couple of short-cut paths too, but it is easy to follow the loops around and ensure you see everything. There is a surprisingly large amount of ground to cover - or perhaps it just seemed that way because there were so many enclosures and aviaries everywhere. I was probably also spending longer at each one than I normally do at zoos because almost all the species were interesting to me. Usually, in a regular zoo, I will breeze pretty quickly past the typical zoo animals - the tigers and chimps and ostriches - but at Healesville the "typical" animals are more in the wombat and koala line and they are heavily outnumbered by the likes of lyrebirds and mountain pigmy possums. There are also a lot of walk-through aviaries (eight of them, no less!), in which I was lingering to try and find birds.
..............................................
I'll quickly mention the herptiles first before moving onto the mammals and birds. There are a few individual reptile enclosures dotted about the park but being winter these weren't all occupied. Even in Australia a number of the reptiles hibernate, or at least disappear from view until the warmer months.
Most of the reptiles are therefore in the reptile house which, while small, is very nice indeed. The tanks are mostly of a good size in relation to their inhabitants - not large but not too small - although some of the snakes were in my opinion too big for their space. Several of the exhibits were mixed, but annoyingly the signage was of the revolving electronic form so you have to stand there and wait for the different panels to come up on the screen. I understand these look attractive in a modern sort of way, and probably make it easier to update the information than replacing a physical sign, but they are a pain in the butt as a visitor!
Not all the reptiles in the main tanks were from Victoria (in fact a lot of them were from much further north), but at the end of the house was a section where you can look through windows into the "off-show" area. Right by the windows are small tanks for some of the threatened local species which Zoos Victoria works with, including the guthega skink and alpine she-oak skink. The latter wasn't on show, but I suspect this was, again, because it was winter. There were also Burton's legless lizards here.
..............................................
Most of Australia's native mammals are nocturnal so there aren't a huge number displayed in outside enclosures at Healesville, and those are all the larger and more "typical" ones. The macropod area was under renovation so there was just a smaller temporary walk-through with red and Kangaroo Island kangaroos, with a wallaby walk-through on the other side of the park. The latter had brush-tailed rock wallabies alongside the more usual red-necked and swamp wallabies. Koalas and some very active echidnas were in a fairly extensive set-up near the entrance. The koala enclosures were what could be considered standard - cut-off trees in which the koalas sit - but there was a raised walkway winding between the enclosures and an effort had been to make the whole area look "natural" with plantings. The Tasmanian devils also had a very nice set of large enclosures. Next to the devils were wombats, and there were dingos elsewhere.
Platypus are one of the main attractions at Healesville I think. I don't believe I've ever heard of a bad experience with platypus there - they always seem to be very active and visible in the platypus house. The viewing corridor is darkened, the tanks semi-lit. Two of the tanks hold platypus, and the others hold fish and Australian water rats. The only water rat I could see was sitting up the back of the enclosure, basically a silhouette, but both the platypus were very obvious. There is also an outdoors pool, but this is used for show periods so I didn't see it.
All the other mammals displayed at Healesville are in the nocturnal house. I have certain issues with nocturnal houses because I love them in theory but so often they disappoint with small exhibit space and inappropriate inhabitants. Australian nocturnal houses, however, are generally excellent. I think this is mostly by virtue of the species being quite small and yet very active when awake so making a good display, and I think too that marsupials are just not as easily stressed in a nocturnal house environment as higher mammals. That last point may be entirely inaccurate, but that's the perception I have when viewing them. Australian nocturnal houses generally use red light as well, as opposed to white or blue light, which helps immeasurably.
Healesville's nocturnal house is a basic loop. The enclosures are all quite large (there are just a couple of smaller ones for spinifex hopping mouse and - empty on my visit - fat-tailed dunnart) and even though I was in there at 2pm on a Saturday with a fair amount of noise from other visitors, all the animals were very showy. The only one which couldn't have been said to be active was the sugar glider, of which I saw only one and only on my second pass around the house. The hopping mice were a bit shy as well, possibly because their living space wasn't all that large. The species line-up in here is brilliant - apart for the "usual" sorts like long-nosed potoroo and bilby, there were Leadbeater's possums, mountain pigmy possums, squirrel gliders, and eastern barred bandicoots.
..............................................
Birds. I like birds, as any sensible person does. Healesville has lots of them, and many of them - indeed, most of them - are in walk-through or walk-in aviaries. Not just common old birds either, but apostlebirds, eastern yellow robins, superb lyrebirds, helmeted honeyeaters ....
I tend to think walk-through aviaries should be as big as possible, both for effect and for the comfort of the birds (as soon as visitors can enter the birds' living space then their living space needs to be increased to offset that). But most of the ones at Healesville are relatively small, and yet still work very well both as exhibits and apparently from the birds' perspective (judging by their relaxed behaviour). All of the following are walk-through aviaries.
Australia is the Land of Parrots, and here there is an actual section called Land of Parrots which consists of two large walk-throughs staffed with volunteers. (I have to say, too, that all the volunteers [and staff] I met at the park were brilliant). The first of the two aviaries was for larger parrots (red-tailed black cockatoo, king parrot, eclectus, rainbow lorikeet) and a few "extras" (blue-faced honeyeater, satin bowerbird, and red-browed finch), while the second was for smaller birds (budgie, cockatiel, scaly-breasted and musk lorikeets, regent parrot, bush stone-curlew, and apostlebird).
The lyrebird aviary was a thickly-planted aviary which really did look like genuine forest. The lyrebird pair were quite new and shy so I only got a glimpse, but there were a lot of other Victorian forest species in here like eastern yellow robin, silvereye, white-browed scrubwren and superb fairy wren.
The Woodlands aviary was so well-planted that several of the species inside I failed to find (sacred kingfisher, superb fairy wren, and painted buttonquail) but some time spent lurking meant I saw all the others, including white-eared honeyeater, eastern whipbird, and star finch.
In contrast, the small Arid walk-through aviary was a representation of desert so all the birds were easily visible. Some particularly nice species alongside the finches were golden-shouldered parrot, scarlet-chested parrot, and swift parrot.
The Endangered Species aviary was attached to a building in which most of the zoo's mountain pigmy possums were hibernating and where the corroboree frogs are displayed. The aviary itself had helmeted honeyeater as well as a range of not-so-endangered birds like brush bronzewing, emerald dove, and black-breasted buttonquail. The orange-bellied parrots were off-display at the time of my visit but are usually in this aviary. The only species I missed in here was the rose-crowned fruit dove.
The Wetland aviary was great - a very large pond netted over and viewed from two access point. There is a "bird-watcher" hide on one side with a lot of signage about wetland birds and the statement that you can always tell a birdwatcher because they are wearing a hat. I'm pretty sure I've seen Batman wearing a hat and I don't think he's a birdwatcher. Unless it's penguins.
The final walk-through aviary at the park is just labelled "Kookaburras" on the map, but there's a photo in the gallery calling it the Flooded Forest aviary. Usually there are fruit bats in here but they had all been removed for some reason, as apparently had the various pigeon species. Despite it being a "Flooded Forest", the only watery birds in there were pied stilts - otherwise there was a pair of frogmouths, a male regent bowerbird, a black-faced cuckoo-shrike, and a kookaburra.
..............................................
I've put a few photos in the gallery here: Healesville Sanctuary - Photo Galleries | ZooChat
I will add a species list below (as in, those species on display on my visit).
There is a 2012 review by Hix here, so you can compare the species (there have been some notable changes): Healesville Sanctuary - A Visit to Healesville
[I note, also, that he didn't see any platypus in the platypus house which refutes my opinion that nobody doesn't see them in there!]
