Perth Zoo review

Location - 20 Labouchere Rd, Perth, Western Australia 6151, Australia 

Entry Price - Adults $24.50 AUD Children (4-15) $9.25 AUD

Opening Hours - Perth Zoo is open from 9 am to 5 pm every day of the year, including Australia Day, Good Friday and Christmas.  

Perth Zoo web page  

 

Layout 

Perth Zoo consists of three main areas – Asian Rainforest, African Savannah and Australian Walk About with smaller exhibits in between including a reptile and nocturnal house. The zoo is well signed and easy to navigate.

The gardens are lush and representative of the each region on show. Drink machines are scattered around the zoo with  two cafes located on property.  Extensive lawns with picnic tables are located between the African Savannah and Australian Walk About sections.   
 

Rhino in the African Savannah  

Extra Activities

A carousel is located near the café operating between 10 am and 4 pm - though note that there is an extra charge for this. A fully wheel chair accessible children’s playground is free of charge.

Perth Zoo offers an extensive behind the scenes program including ‘Zoo keeper for the day’. A unique activity is Ele – ART were you go behind the scenes and get Perth Zoo’s elephants to paint your very own masterpiece as part of the elephants enrichment program. You can also purchase these paintings from the zoo store. 

Breeding programs

Sumatran Orang-utan , Numbat , Western Swamp Tortoise , Dibbler, Sun Bear.

Sun Bear

Stu's Favourite Bit

The orang-utan enclosure is impressive. Especially the new orang-utan boardwalk giving you excellent viewing opportunities and interactive educational information. The enclosures embrace contemporary practices in animal husbandry with an enticing feel that challenges the orang-utans both physically and mentally. It's structures  have been designed to simulate the complexity of a rain forest environment.  

Orang-utan enclosure

Interactive display at Orang-utan Boardwalk

Stu's review and tips

Perth Zoo is small, but has a great variety of animals with the main focus on Australian,  Asian and African animals.

The enclosures are very well done and it is clear that the main focus at this zoo is the animal’s welfare. All of the enclosures looked very natural with plenty of foliage and other animal-centered features. This means that you are not guaranteed to see every animal, but I think that is a small price to pay.

Giraffes in the African Savannah

The zoo does not provide maps with the initial entry ticket - if you want a map you need to go to the information center near the entrance of the zoo and purchase it for one dollar. I found this bizarre and a little inconvenient . Why not just include the map in the price of the ticket ?

 

Perth can get very hot in summer. To give yourself the best opportunity to see the animals I would recommend that you go to the zoo in the morning as the animals tend to hide to keep cool between 12noon and 4 pm.

The variety of food at the two cafes on site was poor and expensive, however they do have food stalls scattered throughout the zoo serving hotdogs and cold drinks for a reasonable price. Do yourself a favour and bring a picnic lunch – there are heaps of picnic tables available. 

The zoos is smoke free throughout the entire property.

Fairy penguin enclosure

A fun way to get to the Perth Zoo is to catch a ferry from the CBD to Mends Street Jetty South Perth. It’s then just a short walk to the zoo gates and will add to your overall experience.

Overall this is a good zoo if you are looking for something to do over a few hours. The zoo is ideal for kids as it is small and has all of the regular big ticket animals like elephants, primates and lions. However it can get expensive if you are a family. 

Must See Animals 

 

Sun Bear

Orangutan 

Penguin 

Koala 

Kangaroo 

Cassowary

Elephant

Zebra

 

 

© April 2014-Stuatthezoo.blogspot.com.au