It's not really a tradition, although I normally use that word when describing it, but 'habit' would be a better description, I guess.
For many years during the '80's, 90's and 00's I would make a point of visiting Taronga on Christmas Day to say 'Hi, Merry Christmas' and catch up with all my friends who were working that day.
In the 1980's there would only be about 25 visitors coming to the zoo for the day (it might have been more, but the zoo was empty and I felt like I had the place to myself). Then in the 90's word seemed to get out that the zoo was open on Christmas Day, and people from cultures that don't celebrate Christmas, or people travelling who had to be in Sydney for one reason or another and wanted to do something but found that everything was shut, started visiting. And as the word spread other people thought that instead of the beaches which were packed, the zoo would be a different alternative. Nowadays, the zoo gets several thousand visitors on December 25.
For a variety of reasons it's been a while since I visited on Christmas Day, but this year I decided to do so, and get in early before the crowds started to appear. So I left home in southwestern Sydney while it was still dark and got to the Northern Beaches just as the sun was coming over the horizon. I spent a few hours birding at some favourite locations before heading to the zoo and waiting along with about 50 other people for the zoo to open at 09:30.
Unfortunately, because of the high turnover of staff - and the fact it's been over 20 years since I worked there - I only saw one keeper that I knew (there may have been a few more that I knew but I wasn't able to find any in my wanderings). And so we chatted for a good 15-20 minutes about the zoo, changes, what people were doing, where they were going etc.
Now, onto my observations:
The horseshoe aviaries are long gone, replace by the new Koala Encounters. A shame as they were good aviaries. Also, the whole Australian section is still closed off at the rainforest Aviary and by the old Spider Monkey enclosure. Even the new Platypus enclosure seemed to be fenced off.
I saw it in the news a few months back, but the large bronze reclining gorilla is on the lawn opposite the Reptile House. I'm sure it's popular with the children.
Reminds me of an old girlfriend - once I had sobered up.
The Reptile House was empty when I arrived so I took some interior photos of the walkway and of some of the exhibits before the public got in the way. Serpentaria is soon to be demolished (probably in 2024) once the new facility is built so I wanted some photos for posterity. The Komodo Dragon enclosure (which now has no Komodo but I sign advertising a dingo presentation with the two new pups), the North American Rattlesnake exhibit, the Broadheaded Snake exhibit which hasn't changed since the complex opened in the 90s, the interior of the dome, the red-bellied Black snake exhibit, and the Inland Taipan enclosure. All iconic for me, for one reason or another.
Scrub Python - Australia's largest snake
Wandered past the chimps to the lion exhibit which has been closed since the lions went walkabout a few weeks ago. Peering over the fence I saw two marquees in the exhibit, each with a table and half-a dozen chairs, like someone was planning on having a meeting there. Or lunch. Possibly a new attraction to sell to the public - 'Lion Encounters' or 'Lunch with the Lions'. Maybe that's why there's been such a high turnover of staff.
Last time I visited the zoo it was a brilliantly sunny day and I took a photo of the new Fennec enclosure to illustrate how bad reflections on glass can be. Today was overcast and I got a better photo today with virtually no reflections.
On a sunny day with strong reflections (June 2021)
With very few reflections. A Fennec can be seen in the third panel from the left, on the rock at the back under the log.
Walking into the Palm Aviary (the one beside the Bongo and Francois' Lemurs) I saw some birds I haven't seen there before - four White-rumped Shamas, four Forest Kingfishers, and some Metallic Starlings. The zoo has had the Kingfishers before, but the Shamas and Starlings are new. In fact, I didn't know there were any Shamas in Australia. Both were very vocal but the starlings were moving around so much I could get any photos of them, however the Shamas were quite happy to sit in front of my camera.
The new Reptile House is being built where the first Seal Theatre was located, just below the Seal Pools (which now have a kid's playground and capybaras). The whole area is fenced off from the eastern end of the gorillas all the way to Gung's enclosure (which now has camels), but leaving a narrow path to walk alongside. The other side of the path - Mary Gibbon's island (which recently held Cottontop Tamarins) is also fenced off, and I later noticed the Saltwater Crocodile exhibit below is also closed). And while the Moore Park Aviary is still there, there's nothing in it except heavily overgrown vegetation.
Capybara Encounters
For many years during the '80's, 90's and 00's I would make a point of visiting Taronga on Christmas Day to say 'Hi, Merry Christmas' and catch up with all my friends who were working that day.
In the 1980's there would only be about 25 visitors coming to the zoo for the day (it might have been more, but the zoo was empty and I felt like I had the place to myself). Then in the 90's word seemed to get out that the zoo was open on Christmas Day, and people from cultures that don't celebrate Christmas, or people travelling who had to be in Sydney for one reason or another and wanted to do something but found that everything was shut, started visiting. And as the word spread other people thought that instead of the beaches which were packed, the zoo would be a different alternative. Nowadays, the zoo gets several thousand visitors on December 25.
For a variety of reasons it's been a while since I visited on Christmas Day, but this year I decided to do so, and get in early before the crowds started to appear. So I left home in southwestern Sydney while it was still dark and got to the Northern Beaches just as the sun was coming over the horizon. I spent a few hours birding at some favourite locations before heading to the zoo and waiting along with about 50 other people for the zoo to open at 09:30.
Unfortunately, because of the high turnover of staff - and the fact it's been over 20 years since I worked there - I only saw one keeper that I knew (there may have been a few more that I knew but I wasn't able to find any in my wanderings). And so we chatted for a good 15-20 minutes about the zoo, changes, what people were doing, where they were going etc.
Now, onto my observations:
The horseshoe aviaries are long gone, replace by the new Koala Encounters. A shame as they were good aviaries. Also, the whole Australian section is still closed off at the rainforest Aviary and by the old Spider Monkey enclosure. Even the new Platypus enclosure seemed to be fenced off.
I saw it in the news a few months back, but the large bronze reclining gorilla is on the lawn opposite the Reptile House. I'm sure it's popular with the children.
Reminds me of an old girlfriend - once I had sobered up.
The Reptile House was empty when I arrived so I took some interior photos of the walkway and of some of the exhibits before the public got in the way. Serpentaria is soon to be demolished (probably in 2024) once the new facility is built so I wanted some photos for posterity. The Komodo Dragon enclosure (which now has no Komodo but I sign advertising a dingo presentation with the two new pups), the North American Rattlesnake exhibit, the Broadheaded Snake exhibit which hasn't changed since the complex opened in the 90s, the interior of the dome, the red-bellied Black snake exhibit, and the Inland Taipan enclosure. All iconic for me, for one reason or another.
Scrub Python - Australia's largest snake
Wandered past the chimps to the lion exhibit which has been closed since the lions went walkabout a few weeks ago. Peering over the fence I saw two marquees in the exhibit, each with a table and half-a dozen chairs, like someone was planning on having a meeting there. Or lunch. Possibly a new attraction to sell to the public - 'Lion Encounters' or 'Lunch with the Lions'. Maybe that's why there's been such a high turnover of staff.
Last time I visited the zoo it was a brilliantly sunny day and I took a photo of the new Fennec enclosure to illustrate how bad reflections on glass can be. Today was overcast and I got a better photo today with virtually no reflections.
On a sunny day with strong reflections (June 2021)
With very few reflections. A Fennec can be seen in the third panel from the left, on the rock at the back under the log.
Walking into the Palm Aviary (the one beside the Bongo and Francois' Lemurs) I saw some birds I haven't seen there before - four White-rumped Shamas, four Forest Kingfishers, and some Metallic Starlings. The zoo has had the Kingfishers before, but the Shamas and Starlings are new. In fact, I didn't know there were any Shamas in Australia. Both were very vocal but the starlings were moving around so much I could get any photos of them, however the Shamas were quite happy to sit in front of my camera.
The new Reptile House is being built where the first Seal Theatre was located, just below the Seal Pools (which now have a kid's playground and capybaras). The whole area is fenced off from the eastern end of the gorillas all the way to Gung's enclosure (which now has camels), but leaving a narrow path to walk alongside. The other side of the path - Mary Gibbon's island (which recently held Cottontop Tamarins) is also fenced off, and I later noticed the Saltwater Crocodile exhibit below is also closed). And while the Moore Park Aviary is still there, there's nothing in it except heavily overgrown vegetation.
Capybara Encounters
Last edited:
Interesting to see a lot of changes even though it’s only been a good six months since I last visited.
