Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park

Featherdale Sydney Wildlife Park is an Australian zoo in Doonside, west of the Sydney CBD. It specialises in Australian native wildlife and birds, as well as reptiles and marsupials.

History

Featherdale is located on seven acres of land owned by Charles and Marjorie Wigg, which they purchased in 1953, in what was then a poultry farm. It was opened in 1972, by their son in-law Bruce Kubbare, who had studied fauna. The park initially opened as a nursery, lined with Australian native trees and plants, in conjunction with a wildlife park. It was threatened with closure in 1975 by rezoning and development for public housing, but the decision was reversed by then premier Sir Robert Askin.

The park is owned currently by the Elanor Investment Group, who own several destinations in the tourism and leisure sector. The faculty is equipped with an amphitheatre and runs a program called "The Learning Burrow", encouraging education and general information on animals.

Featherdale won the best Major Tourist Attraction award in 2005 and 2009, under operation of then-owner Amalgamated Holdings Limited (now known as Event Hospitality and Entertainment), who solely operated the park from 1996 until its $15 million-sale in 2013. Many well known celebrities have visited Featherdale, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Will Smith, Gwen Stefani, Kristen Stewart, Taylor Lautner, Robert De Niro, Matt Damon, Dave Grohl and Smokey Robinson.

In Nov 2019, Featherdale Wildlife Park management bought Mogo Zoo from Sally Padey (Mogos owner for over 30 years), and will commence management from the end of Nov 2019.

Address: 217-229 Kildare Rd, Doonside NSW 2767, Australia
Opened: 1972
Hours: Closed ⋅ Opens 9AM Thu
Phone: +61 2 9622 1644
Notable animals: Cleo, Dora, Ernie, Luigi, Archer, Tia, Christina