Koala Park Sanctuary vs Featherdale

[zebra]

We will be in Sydney for 2 days in April and really want to get up close and personal with Aussie wildlife. While I fully understand that Taronga is highly rated, we have been to many excellent zoos but on this trip we particularly want to see and experience the Aussie animals.

I would really appreciate all your comments and help on choosing either the Koala Park Sanctuary or Featherdale....

[cassamanda]

We will be in Sydney for 2 days in April and really want to get up close and personal with Aussie wildlife. While I fully understand that Taronga is highly rated, we have been to many excellent zoos but on this trip we particularly want to see and experience the Aussie animals.

I would really appreciate all your comments and help on choosing either the Koala Park Sanctuary or Featherdale....

Definitely Featherdale - like chalk and cheese. Can get there by train & bus but best to go on private tour or hire a car. Need 1.5 hours there and allow 1 hr travel each way from Sydney week days or 40 min weekend.

[zebra]

Thanks for your input. I have another question - can you actually touch the Koala's at Featherdale? I heard, not!!

[Northerncheapo]

We did the Koala sanctuary and loved it. Got to actually touch them, not hold them, but touch and put arm around them. Got to see lots of other animals. Was hardly anyone there. Loved it.

[cjm66]

Thanks for your input. I have another question - can you actually touch the Koala's at Featherdale? I heard, not!!

 

It is ilegal to hold Koalas in NSW (and most other states). At Featherdale you can pat them. See extract from their Q&A below.

 

Whilst it is illegal to hold a Koala in NSW unless you are a qualified Keeper, Featherdale provides FREE all day Koala encounters where visitors are able to meet and have their photo taken patting a Koala using your own camera.

 

Featherdale is the more attractive and varied wildlife park IMO>

 

Colleen

[cassamanda]

So there you go. All good recommendations. Featherdale gets busy 9am -10.30 and late afternoon because of the coach tours that go there on the way to the blue mountains. Rest of the day it's quiet -sometimes a school group is there.

The park is flat & well maintained & has proper rangers etc. Also has a large bird park, reptiles etc. Many of the areas have free roaming animals such as small kangaroos that you can pat and feed. Also has a nursurery that the kids love.

Has large souvenire shop, small cafe.

[zebra]

Oh Wow - just read the latest review on the Featherdale website .... hmmm, makes me rethink visiting this park. I know this could have been an isolated incident, but the way it was received and handled leaves a lot to be desired. Not good PR!!

[cassamanda]

Oh Wow - just read the latest review on the Featherdale website .... hmmm, makes me rethink visiting this park. I know this could have been an isolated incident, but the way it was received and handled leaves a lot to be desired. Not good PR!!

Have no idea what review you are referring to. You will not be dissappointed with this park and have only heard of good reviews.

You can touch the Kangaroos and Koala's and that's what you were seeking to do. If you go there to expect good food - don't - go elswhere. And yes it is a little awkward to get to.

There are 2 other locations in Sydney city. Next to the Aquarium is an indoor wildlife park with most animals locked away behind bars or glass. The Sydney Zoo is outstanding with magic views of the harbour and accessed by Ferry. Forget the Koala Park you mentioned.

[zebra]

When you put in Featherdale into the Yahoo browser it brings up their webpage and under that is 17 reviews that you can click on. Here is the latest review:

 

I visited Featherdale Wildlife Park last month as part of a vacation to Australia. We arrived by train and bus from downtown Sydney, not as part of another tour, but with the promise of being able to pet a koala, as website states “enjoy a face-to-face encounter with one of our friendly koalas”. This is a dangerous place. I did pet a koala, and it climbed up my arm and onto my head. Along the way it ripped my ear and the area around one of my eyes. It scratched my face in several places and hurt my arm. I was bleeding and screaming for help, as I couldn’t get the koala to stop climbing or get off me. I screamed and screamed for quite a while before anyone came and helped. There was nobody from the Park watching the animals, or the visitors!! I was bleeding a lot. I begged for help. I was afraid that my eye was punctured. Instead, I got a lecture from a teenage girl working there that it was “my fault” for touching the koala. Finally, I was taken to a first aid area, where two nice women helped to clean me up and bandaged my open wounds. However, they suggested that I get medical attention, and that I take a bus to the nearest medical center. I was in no condition to wait for a bus!! I repeatedly asked that they call a taxi for me. The Park never apologized or offered to pay for the medical bills I incurred (2 emergency doctor visits and medication) or even to pay for the taxi. They wrote a report but refused to give me a copy. I would never take a child there. Their website shows a baby kissing a koala. It gives me the chills.

[cassamanda]

When you put in Featherdale into the Yahoo browser it brings up their webpage and under that is 17 reviews that you can click on. Here is the latest review:

 

 

That review is written by an anonymous contributor and i doubt if the story is true. Never believe anonymous reviews. All other reviews plus the 21 on Google are good.

If it was then i suspect they went into the Koala display enclosures without permission (like climbing into a lions cage - Dumb). The Koala has sharp nails - it lives in trees and was probably protecting its space.

The place where you go to have your photo taken with the Koala is supervised at all times with a ranger. And yes it is illegal to touch/hold a koala without supervision.

[serval_girl]

That review is written by an anonymous contributor and i doubt if the story is true. Never believe anonymous reviews.

 

I agree! In fact last week when I read that review (I am planning a Blue Mountains post cruise trip in April) I clicked on the report button. My guess is the poor thing got scared (sounds like she was harassing the poor thing), climbed and accidently scratched her. She saw an opportunity to make a stink. The Taronga zoo has a nocturnal house, but entry to the zoo is $40 which is twice what I have ever paid stateside (and I have visited to top zoos there). I did a bit of trolling on TA and found overall very good reviews for Featherdale. If you go on their website there are show times for the various critters-devils at 4 so that is when I will be there!

[cassamanda]

That review is written by an anonymous contributor and i doubt if the story is true. Never believe anonymous reviews.

 

I agree! In fact last week when I read that review (I am planning a Blue Mountains post cruise trip in April) I clicked on the report button. My guess is the poor thing got scared (sounds like she was harassing the poor thing), climbed and accidently scratched her. She saw an opportunity to make a stink. The Taronga zoo has a nocturnal house, but entry to the zoo is $40 which is twice what I have ever paid stateside (and I have visited to top zoos there). I did a bit of trolling on TA and found overall very good reviews for Featherdale. If you go on their website there are show times for the various critters-devils at 4 so that is when I will be there!

Good on you. And the report was also written in 2010!

Have a nice holiday, the weather in Sydney at that time of year is great.

[Red Hat Cruise Cat]

For both Featherdale and the Koala Sanctuary, do you have to pay to take your picture with a koala, or can you use your own camera at no cost?

[cassamanda]

For both Featherdale and the Koala Sanctuary, do you have to pay to take your picture with a koala, or can you use your own camera at no cost?

You can use your own camera for free at both.

[windsor26]

If by any chance you are including Queensland on your holiday tour and going to Calloundra on the Sunshine Coast the Australia Zoo lets you cuddle the koalas and they have lots of the indigenous animals there including white kangaroos

[boards]

We will be in Sydney in April too and were thinking of going to the Taronga Zoo. We are looking for ferry boat ride as well. Hope the Taronga Zoo is worth the trip.

[cassamanda]

We will be in Sydney in April too and were thinking of going to the Taronga Zoo. We are looking for ferry boat ride as well. Hope the Taronga Zoo is worth the trip.

Taronga is a great Zoo, set on the hillsides on the northern side of the Harbour. It is only a short ferry ride from Circular Quay (pronounced Key). When you get there take the cable car to the top and work your way back down in Z fashion. Great views of Sydney.

[zebra]

I felt I had to give feedback on this post. We have just come back from our trip to Sydney. Featherdale was AMAZING!!! We did not want to do Taronga, although I'm sure the view are fantastic we did not want views, nor did we want to see African animals behind bars (we come from Africa where we believe our animals should be seen in their own environment - free!). Our trip to Featherdale was everything the Aussie's on this board said it would be and more. We loved your gorgeous animals and being able to touch and interact with them all...... what a special place. Sydney was fabulous ..... thank you so much for your suggestions.

[Sandielle]

Glad you enjoyed it Jackie. Thanks for coming back and letting us know. :)

[cassamanda]

Thank you Jackie & Tony. Glad you enjoyed Sydney and Featherdale.