Featherdale Wildlife Park, located at Doonside, is pleased to be a new member of the Western Sydney Business Connection.
The Park was opened in 1972 by Bruce and Margaret Kubbere on Margaret’s parents’ 7-acre plot, which had previously operated as a poultry farm. Today the Park is owned by Elanor Investors Group and has developed into one of Australia’s finest tourist attractions in Greater Western Sydney playing an important part in the growth of the local and state economy.
Home to over 1,700 Australian native animals from more than 260 different species - Australia’s largest native collection – Featherdale is committed to animal conservation and environmental and education programs. There are several outstanding success stories which have come from the conservation work undertaken at the Park.
Featherdale is home to over 40 koalas - the largest captive population in Australia - and has successfully bred over 200 koalas since they opened. A critical part of Featherdale’s continued commitment to koala conservation was the formation of a partnership with GE Health which secured a state-of-the-art diagnostic ultrasound machine for the Park. With this equipment, Featherdale can identify fertility and breeding availability as well as injuries and illness.
As Koalas are listed as vulnerable in the ACT, New South Wales and Queensland, early detection of any potential reproductive problems means that treatment can commence quickly substantially increasing the chances of a full recovery and reducing future reproduction issues. The Park is also known for its conservation work with other endangered species such as the Yellow Footed Rock Wallaby and the Tiger Quoll. Featherdale is also home to an insurance population of Tasmanian Devils. Featherdale also has the largest bird collection in Australia including species being kept nowhere else on the planet. This highly significant collection has given the Park a reputation as a world leader in bird management and has seen them work on the conservation of several threatened species including the Regent Honeyeater and the Plains Wanderer.
All of these species, along with other Park favourites such as reptiles, echidna and kangaroos can be visited daily with keepers providing regular talks and presentations to make sure our visitors leave with an important understanding on how they can help preserve these beautiful species for the future.
Featherdale also offers private and small group encounters so our guests can get up close and personal take photos, pat and in some cases, hold our beautiful animals.
As a special offer, children visiting with a full paying adult in July will receive free admission* (a maximum of four kids allowed per paying adult). The Park also works closely with school groups through the Wildlife Education Program which hosts visits and the “Wildlife Wanderers,” Featherdale’s mobile school incursion program.
Featherdale Wildlife Park is located at 217 Kildare Road Doonside, Western Sydney. The Park is open 9am to 5pm daily. Visit www.featherdale.com.au or call 02 9622 1644 for further information.
*Terms & conditions apply
