Featherdale Wildlife Park
Featherdale Wildlife Park | |
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33°46′01″S 150°53′04″E / 33.766974°S 150.884541°E | |
Date opened | 1972 |
Location | Doonside, New South Wales, Australia |
Major exhibits | Mammals, Birds, Wildlife, Reptiles, Marsupials |
Website | www |
Featherdale Wildlife Park is an Australian zoo in Doonside, Sydney, near Blacktown[1] It specialises in Australian native wildlife and birds, as well as reptiles and marsupials. It is owned currently by the Elanor Investment Group, who own several destinations in the tourism and leisure sector. The facualty is equipped with an amphitheatre, and runs a program called "The Learning Burrow", encouraging education and general information on animals. The park is a major tourist attraction, not just for Western Sydney, but for NSW and Australia[2]
History
Located on seven acres of land owned by Charles and Marjorie Wigg that they purchased in 1953, in what was then a poultry farm,[3] Featherdale Wildlife Park opened in 1972, by there son-inlaw Bruce Kibbare, who had studied fauna, and the park opened as a nursery, lined with Australian native tress and plants, in conjunction with a wildlife park. Featherdale won the best Major Tourist Attraction award in 2005 and 2009.[4] It was threatened with closure in 1975 by rezoning and development for public housing, but the decision was reversed by then-premier Sir Robert Askin.[3]
References
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- ^ Frommer's Australia 2011 (2012). "Sydney Attractions: Featherdale Wildlife Park". New York Times website. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Featherdale Wildlife Park Sydney".
- ^ a b "About Featherdale Wildlife Park". Featherdale Wildlife Park website. self. 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ O'Maley, Christine (23 November 2009). "Featherdale beats Opera House to claim major tourism award". Blacktown Advocate. Retrieved 18 March 2012.