Featherdale Wildlife Park

For a day surrounded by native Australian animals in a relaxed and picturesque setting, travelers need look no further than Sydney’s Featherdale Wildlife Park. Tucked away in the suburb of Doonside, around 45km from Sydney’s CBD, Featherdale offers thrilling animal encounters like no other park in the city.

Animals at Featherdale

Featherdale is home to an eclectic variety of animals, ranging from mammals and marsupials to reptiles and birds. There are plenty of opportunities for visitors to get up and close and personal with species they’ve only ever seen from afar.

The koala is perhaps the favorite amongst foreign travelers at Featherdale, and the free-roaming kangaroos, wallabies, bilbies are used to humans and love to be fed by visitors. Amongst the other marsupials in the park are wombats, quolls, and Tasmanian Devils.

The native Australian mammals within the park include dingoes, echidnas, and bats. Additionally, a farm yard is available containing sheep, cattle, and goats which also love to be fed and pet by friendly visitors.

The park’s reptiles include lizards, venomous snakes and pythons (which are enclosed!), turtles and a saltwater crocodile. The park is also home to native and colorful Australian birds such as kingfishers. Larger birds like emus and cassowaries may also be found within the park.

Why Featherdale?

For any animal lovers traveling to Sydney, there is an array of opportunities available to see natural Australian wildlife. While the famous Taronga Zoo sits in a scenic location and hosts the largest range of animals by far, its zoo setting means that the animals are largely confined to enclosures and visitors rarely get the chance to interact with them.

Similarly, Sydney Wildlife World displays its animals mostly through glass-cased enclosures. Though there may be a larger variety at these inner-city institutions, the interactive experience of feeding and touching the animals is missed.

Park Essentials

Featherdale Wildlife Park is open every day except for Christmas, from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. The koala sanctuary is open all day, as is the free-roaming area where visitors can interact with kangaroos, wallabies, and bilbies.

The crocodile is fed during the summer months at 10:15 am each morning, the dingo at 3:15 pm and the Tasmanian Devil at 4:00 pm. The reptiles, echidnas, penguins, pelican and flying foxes are also routinely fed throughout the day.

The grounds offer a café which boats a selection of fresh hot and cold food, in addition to coin-operated barbecue facilities. Two shady picnic areas are also available, though the entire park is a smoke and alcohol-free zone.

Free wifi is also offered at the park, and visitors are encouraged to connect with Featherdale through their social media channels of Facebook and Twitter. A large gift shop is available for visitors to purchase souvenirs and photos taken with the animals.

Park entry tickets as of July 2017 are:

• Adults: $32
• Child 3-15 Years: $17
• Student / Pensioner: $27
• Senior: $21
• Family (2 adults/2 children): $88
• Family (2 adults/1 child): $71
• Family (1 adult/2 children): $58

217-229 Kildare Road

Doonside, Sydney NSW 2767

- Edited and updated by Sarah Megginson.