Featherdale Wildlife Park

Featherdale Wildlife Park is home to an extraordinary range of Australian wildlife, and is well worth a visit. Located 40km west of Sydney, on the road out towards the spectacular Blue Mountains, it was originally a fairly ordinary poultry farm, but was taken over in the early 70s and opened as a wildlife park in 1972. Now, almost 45 years later, there are around 1,700 animals from over 280 different species living here, and it provides an almost unparalleled opportunity to discover more about, and interact with, the native Australian fauna.

Fully Koalified

The koalas are the favourite of many visitors to Featherdale, and if you watch them for a while you are bound to see something which will make you laugh. Cute and cuddly-looking most of the time, they can suddenly produce extraordinarily loud and unflattering grunting noises, which are designed to attract mates. Grunting aside, they have an endearingly relaxed approach to life, and sleep for an average of 20 hours per day. When they’re up and about, the keepers will let you stroke them if they approach.

A Native Menagerie

Also popular, and quintessentially Australian, are the kangaroos and wallabies, both of which you are permitted to hand-feed, under the keepers’ direction, at certain times of day. Elsewhere in the park you will see wombats, emus, penguins, a large saltwater crocodile, a Tasmanian devil, and a wide variety of colourful birds. One of the great things about Featherdale is that the animals here all seem happy – even though you can get closer to them than at many other zoos like Sydney’s Taronga, they have plenty of space to move around, and you don’t get the feeling that the wildlife is solely there for your entertainment.