Perth Zoo - Exhibits

Exhibits

Perth Zoo has three main zones - Australian Walkabout, Asian Rainforest and African Savannah - with a few minor exhibit areas (Lesser Primates, South American birds, Main Lake, Galapagos Tortoises). All exhibits are designed to mimic the animals' natural habitats and utilise passive barriers where possible.

Australian Walkabout

The Australian Walkabout includes the Australian Wetlands and Penguin Plunge, Reptile Encounter, Australian Bushwalk, aviaries and the Nocturnal House. The Australian Wetlands includes black swan, black-necked stork, brolga, little pied cormorant, darter, blue-billed duck, freckled duck, Australian shelduck, Radjah shelduck, Eurasian coot, yellow-billed spoonbill, black-winged stilt, little egret, pied heron, plumed whistling duck, estuarine crocodile, freshwater crocodile, motorbike frog, splendid tree frog, Western swamp tortoise. The Penguin Plunge is home to little penguins and bridled terns. The exhibit includes a 50,000-litre (13,000 USgal) pool of filtered salt water with underwater viewing, a beach, a reef, and a rookery.

The Australia Bushwalk takes visitors on our journey through the Australian landscape where they can see dingoes, emus, koalas, red-legged pademelons, numbats, quokka, red kangaroos, short-beaked echidnas, Southern hairy-nosed Wombats, Tammar wallabys, Tasmanian devils, and Western grey kangaroos. A detour takes visitors to the Western Australian Black Cockatoo exhibit, planted with cockatoo food trees and home to Baudin's cockatoo, Carnaby's cockatoo, Major Mitchell's cockatoo, Muir's corella, red-tailed black cockatoo, and Red-capped Parrot. Another detour takes visitors to the Numbats Under Threat exhibit, which showcases the endangered Australian numbat along with rufous whistlers.

The Nocturnal House is designed in a circular viewing layout that lets visitors circumnavigate the Australian mainland while viewing nocturnal animals under simulated moonlight. Vertebrates in this building include bilby, cane toad, chuditch, dibbler, ghost bat, green tree frog, Northern quoll, slow loris, spinifex hopping mouse, squirrel glider, water rat, Southern brown bandicoot, ringtail possum, feathertail glider and brush-tailed bettong. In addition, this exhibit includes a number of invertebrates such as Australian tarantulas, millipedes, redback spiders, scorpions, and Sydney funnel-web spiders.

The Reptile Encounter was opened on World Environment Day in 1997. It contains 17 exhibits designed to match the animal's natural habitat. The building is climate controlled, and displays reptiles from around the world including black-headed pythons, chameleon dragons, dugites, Fijian crested iguanas, frilled dragons, turtles, olive pythons, perenties, pygmy mulga goannas (Monitor), pygmy pythons, reticulated pythons, South-west carpet pythons, tiger snakes, Merten's water monitors, blue-tongued skinks, spiny-tailed lizards, and womas.

African Savannah

The African Savannah replaced a variety of barred cages, and was the largest construction project undertaken at the zoo when it was created. The exhibit recreates the African savannah, and includes African painted dogs, African lions, cheetahs, Grant's zebras, Hamadryas baboons, Meerkats, radiated tortoises, Rothschild's giraffes, spotted hyaenas and southern white rhinoceroses. Visitors view the animals from a path that simulates a dry riverbed running through the savannah.

Asian Rainforest

The Asian Rainforest is home to a number of threatened Asian species. These include the Asian elephants, Asian small-clawed otters (which can be viewed underwater through a glass window), Red Pandas, Silvery Gibbons, Sumatran orangutans, Sumatran tigers, sun bears, and White-cheeked gibbons. Perth Zoo contributes to the conservation of many of these species in the wild. The Zoo's Sumatran Orangutan breeding program is the most successful in the world, having bred 27 orangutans since 1970. In 2006 it released one of its zoo-born orangutans into the wild in Sumatra as part of an international program to re-establish a wild population of the critically endangered ape.

Lesser Primates

The Lesser Primates exhibit is home to lemurs and monkeys including Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs, Black-capped Capuchins, Bolivian Squirrel Monkeys, Common Marmosets, Cotton-top Tamarins, Emperor Tamarins, Pygmy Marmosets and Ring-tailed Lemurs.

Galapagos Tortoises

Next to the African Savannah and opposite the Lesser Primates is the exhibit home to two Galapagos Tortoises.

South American Birds

Home to the most colourful birds of South America including Amazon parrots, Blue-and-gold Macaws, Green-cheeked Conures, Nanday Conures and Sun Conures.

Main Lake

Near the entrance to the Zoo is the Main Lake which has two islands. One is home to a group of Black-and-white Ruffed Lemurs and the other to a family of Javan Gibbons. Next to the Main Lake and opposite the cafe are exhibits home to the Southern Cassowary and the Goodfellow's Tree kangaroo. It also includes Australian Pelicans that move around in the waters.

Talking Zoo

The zoo provides a free online service called Talking Zoo which lets visitors download hours of animal information onto their iPod, MP3 player, mobile phone or PDA.

Heritage Trail

The Heritage Trail (which can be downloaded from the website or collected from the Information Centre) is a self-guided walk that takes visitors around the zoo and shows off its historical buildings. Buildings included in this walk are the bird feed shed, kite cage, bear caves, hay shed, mineral baths from 1898, replicas of tennis shelters from 1903, the Scout Hall built in 1931, the 1947 carousel that is still in use, and the Gate Zoo Residence that was built in the 1960s.

List of animals

African Savannah

• African Painted Dog
• African Lion
• Cheetah
• Grant's Zebra
• Hamadryas Baboon
• Radiated Tortoise
• Rothschild Giraffe
• Slender-tailed Meerkat
• Spotted Hyaena
• Southern White Rhinoceros

Asian Rainforest

• Asian Elephant
• Nepalese Red Panda
• Asian Small-clawed Otter
• Sumatran Orangutan
• Sumatran Tiger
• Sun Bear
• Northern White-cheeked Gibbon

Australian Bushwalk

• Dingo
• Emu
• Koala
• Numbat
• Quokka
• Red Kangaroo
• Rufous Whistler
• Short-beaked Echidna
• Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat
• Tammar Wallaby
• Tasmanian Devil
• Western Grey Kangaroo

Cockatoos and Parrots

• Baudin's Cockatoo
• Carnaby's Cockatoo
• Major Mitchell's Cockatoo
• Muir's Corella
• Red-tailed Black Cockatoo
• Red-capped Parrot

Australian Wetlands

• Black Swan
• Black-necked Stork
• Brolga
• Little Pied Cormorant
• Darter
• Blue-billed Duck
• Freckled Duck
• Australian Shelduck
• Rajah Shelduck
• Eurasian Coot
• Yellow-billed Spoonbill
• Black-winged Stilt
• Little Egret
• Pied Heron
• Plumed Whistling Duck
• Nankeen Night Heron
• Estuarine Crocodile
• Freshwater Crocodile
• Motorbike Frog
• Splendid Tree Frog
• Western Swamp Tortoise

Penguin Plunge

• Bridled Tern
• Little Penguin

Main Lake

• Black-and-white Ruffed Lemur
• Goodfellow's Tree-kangaroo
• Southern Cassowary
• Javan gibbon

Nocturnal House

• Bilby
• Cane Toad
• Chuditch
• Dibbler
• Ghost Bat
• Green Tree Frog
• Northern Quoll
• Slow Loris
• Spinifex Hopping Mouse
• Squirrel Glider
• Water Rat
• Western Ringtail Possum
• Southern Brown Bandicoot
• Ringtail Possum
• Feathertail Glider
• Brush-tailed Bettong

Reptile Encounter

• Black-headed Python
• Chameleon Dragon
• Dugite
• Fiji Crested Iguana
• Frilled Dragon
• Olive Python
• Perentie
• Pink-eared Turtle
• Pygmy Mulga Goanna (Monitor)
• Pygmy Python
• Reticulated Python
• South-west Carpet Python
• Tiger Snake
• Merten's Water Monitor
• Western Blue-tongued Skink
• Northern Blue-tongued Skink
• Spiny-tailed Lizard
• Woma

Lesser Primates

• Black-Capped Capuchin
• Bolivian Squirrel Monkey
• Common Marmoset
• Cotton-top Tamarin
• Emperor Tamarin
• Pygmy Marmoset
• Ring-tailed Lemur
• Black-and-White Ruffed Lemur

Galapagos tortoises

• Galapagos Tortoise

South American Birds

• Amazon parrot
• Blue-and-gold Macaw
• Green-cheeked Conure
• Nanday Conure
• Sun Conure

Walk-In Aviary

• Blue-winged Kookaburra
• Channel-billed Cuckoo
• Eclectus Parrot
• Emerald Dove
• Green Pygmy Goose
• Pheasant Coucal
• Pied Imperial Pigeon

Invertebrates in Nocturnal House

• Australian Tarantula
• Millipede
• Redback spider
• Scorpion
• Sydney funnel-web spider