Australia Zoo - Citizendia

Australia Zoo


Date opened	1970
Location	Beerwah, Queensland, Australia
Land area	72 acres
Coordinates	-26. Beerwah (ˈbɪərwɑː ( is a town on the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia. Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. 837512, 152. 960844
Website

Australia Zoo is located in the Australian state of Queensland on the Sunshine Coast near Beerwah/Glass House Mountains. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern corner of the mainland continent The Sunshine Coast (population 290645 with up to an additional 50000 in visitors and seasonal workers is a coastal region located in South East Queensland, north of the Beerwah (ˈbɪərwɑː ( is a town on the Sunshine Coast hinterland in Queensland, Australia. Glass House Mountains is a national park in Queensland ( Australia) 70 km northeast of Brisbane. It is owned by Terri Irwin, the widow of Steve Irwin, whose wildlife documentary series The Crocodile Hunter made the zoo a popular tourist attraction. Theresa Penelope Irwin (nee Raines AM (born July 20, 1964) is an American -born naturalist, Author, the widow of Australian Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006 known simply as Steve Irwin and Nicknamed " The Crocodile Hunter " was an iconic A nature documentary is a Documentary film about Animals Plants or other non-human living creatures usually concentrating on film taken in their natural The Crocodile Hunter was a wildlife

1 History
2 Attractions
3 Zoo Development
4 Criticism
5 Gallery
6 References
7 External links

History

Australia Zoo was opened by Bob and Lyn Irwin in 1970 under the name Beerwah Reptile Park. Bob Irwin (born c 1939/1940 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian naturalist, animal Conservationist, and a pioneering ^[1]^[2] Bob Irwin is a world renowned herpetologist, who is regarded as a pioneer in the keeping and breeding of reptiles. Herpetology (from Greek: ἑρπετόν herpeton, "creeping animal" and λόγος logos, "knowledge" is the branch of Zoology Reptiles, or members of the class Reptilia are air-breathing Cold-blooded Vertebrates that have skin covered in scales as opposed to hair or feathers His wife Lyn was one of the first to care for and rehabilitate sick and injured wildlife in southeast Queensland. ^[3]

Bob and Lyn passed on their love and respect for wildlife to their children, especially to their son Steve Irwin, who had helped his parents since childhood to care for crocodiles and reptiles and to maintain the growing number of animals in the zoo. Stephen Robert Irwin (22 February 1962 – 4 September 2006 known simply as Steve Irwin and Nicknamed " The Crocodile Hunter " was an iconic A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae) Over a decade later the park was renamed to the Queensland Reptile and Fauna Park and the area was doubled with the purchase of another four acres. In 1987 the Crocodile Environmental Park was opened in an effort to aid saltwater crocodile protection. The saltwater or estuarine crocodile ( Crocodylus porosus) is the largest of all living Crocodilians and Reptiles It is found in suitable By the 1990s the Crocodile Environmental Park had become very popular and was seen as unique for its display of crocodile feeding within the park. ^[4]

In 1991 Steve "The Crocodile Hunter" Irwin overtook management of the zoo. In 1992 the park was renamed again, becoming Australia Zoo. Currently, the zoo maintains more than 1000 animals and over 550 staff. ^[5]

Australia Zoo won the Australian Tourism Awards for 2003-2004 in the category Major Tourist Attraction. ^[6] Australia Zoo Retail has also won the Tourism Retailing Award from Qantas Australian Tourism Awards. ^[7]

On 16 March 2008 the Brisbane-based newspaper, The Sunday Mail, claimed there are plans to sell Australia Zoo to Animal Planet and create a $100-million Disney-style wildlife theme park. Brisbane ( is the state capital of Queensland. Brisbane is the third most populous city in Australia and the most populous city of Queensland The Sunday Mail is Brisbane 's only Sunday Newspaper. The Sunday Mail is published in Tabloid format comprising several sections that can Animal Planet is an American Satellite and Cable Television channel (also broadcast via IPTV in the UK) launched on Theme park is the generic term for a collection of rides and other Entertainment attractions assembled for the purpose of entertaining a large group ^[8]

Attractions

Although best known for the crocodiles and the live crocodile feedings, the zoo is also known for featuring exhibits of other Australian wildlife, including koalas, wombats, Tasmanian devils, snakes, and (until 2006) a giant Galapagos tortoise called Harriet, who was generally acknowledged as the world's oldest living chelonian when she died on 23 June 2006, at the age of 176. A crocodile is any Species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the Subfamily Crocodylinae) The Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus is a thickset Arboreal Marsupial herbivore native to Australia, and the only extant The Tasmanian Devil ( Sarcophilus harrisii) also referred to simply as "the devil" is a carnivorous Marsupial now found in the wild only in A snake is an elongate Reptile of the suborder Serpentes Like all reptiles snakes are covered in scales. The Galápagos tortoise (or Galápagos giant tortoise) is the largest living Tortoise, native to seven Islands of the Galápagos archipelago Harriet is a female Name. The name is an English version of the French Henriette, a female form of Henri. Turtles are Reptiles of the Order Testudines (all living turtles belong to the Crown group Chelonia) most of Events 1180 - First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan 1305 - The Flemish Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[9] The Zoo also features a smaller selection of animals from around the world, including elephants, tigers, cheetahs and Komodo Dragons, along with a wide range of birds. Elephants ( family: Elephantidae) are large land Mammals of the order Proboscidea. The tiger ( Panthera tigris) is a member of the Felidae family the largest and the most powerful of the four " Big cats quot in the Genus The cheetah ( Acinonyx jubatus) is an atypical member of the cat family ( Felidae) that is unique in its speed while lacking climbing abilities The Komodo dragon ( Varanus komodoensis) is a species of Lizard that inhabits the islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, Gili

Zoo Development

In the meantime, the zoo has encompassed a large area of 72 acres (29 hectares)^[10], (this will be expanded to over 500 acres - 202 hectares - in due course), in which many animals live. In order to reduce long walks, a 'modified trailered bus' has been utilised, named Steve's Safari Shuttle, which operates on a reasonably narrow bitumen roadway circuit. ^[11]

At the zoo there is also a stadium, named the 'Animal Planet Crocoseum', which has a capacity of approximately 5000. ^[12] At the time of its construction, it was the first in the world where snake, bird and crocodile shows were conducted. Australia Zoo calls these shows 'Wildlife Warriors 101'. ^[13] One can also view a crocodile feeding and even participate in an elephant feeding (the elephant feeding can be participated in during the mornings on the roadway circuit at the first crossover to the internal section of the zoo or in the afternoons at 'Elephantasia' (Australia's largest Elephant exhibit^[14]) around the back of the zoo near tiger temple). ^[15]

There is a running space for kangaroos that you can feed^[16], and there is often an opportunity to pet a koala. A kangaroo is a Marsupial from the family Macropodidae (macropods meaning 'large foot' The zoo's sponsored charity Wildlife Warriors also run a rescue operation and care station for any native wildlife who may be injured in accidents outside the zoo. Wildlife Warriors, originally called the Steve Irwin Conservation Foundation is a Conservationist organization that was established in 2002 by Steve Irwin ^[17]^[18]

As of the end of 2006, the elephant enclosure is being expanded, the waterpool has just been completed and 'Elephantasia' officially opened on 26/12/2006. Furthermore, a construction of an artificial island (to represent the Island of Madagascar), began in 2006, which will accommodate African animals such as tortoises, lemurs and other species not yet represented. Madagascar, or Republic of Madagascar (older name Malagasy Republic) is an Island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern Tortoises or land Turtles are land-dwelling Reptiles of the family of Testudinidae', order Testudines. Lemurs make up the infraorder Lemuriformes and are members of a group of Primates known as Prosimians The term "lemur" is derived from the The South-East Asian Precinct will also be improved with the introduction of Orangutans, and transfer of the Komodo Dragons, which inhabit an enclosure near to the entrance to create a more complete Bio-Climatic Asian Region. The orangutans are two Species of great apes known for their intelligence long arms and reddish-brown hair ^[19]

A number of high-profile people have contributed to or supported Australia Zoo, including Justin Timberlake^[20] and the Dalai Lama. Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31 1981 He has English ancestry although he has also claimed some American Indian ancestry probably through unconfirmed The Dalai Lama is the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan people according to Tibetan Buddhism. ^[21]

Criticism

In March 2008, the Zoo was accused of animal 'cruelty'^[22] and of breaking Australian law 13 times^[23] by not releasing koalas within their prescribed habitats. The Environment Protection Association said that they are now monitoring and investigating why the Koalas were not released correctly.