Overview
Sydney's Taronga Zoo boasts its own glamping experience, as well as a luxe new eco-retreat. At Melbourne Zoo, you can stay overnight in the elephant exhibit. Next year, southeast Queensland's Australia Zoo will follow suit, opening a campground that'll also include glamping and eco cabins.
Slated to launch in 2020 to celebrate Australia Zoo's 50th anniversary celebrations, the new addition to the Irwin family's Beerwah zoo has unsurprisingly been dubbed Camp Crocodile Hunter. It'll feature a combination of tent accommodation, powered sites for caravans and RVs, glamping-style tents and cabins — with 108 sites included in total. Wildlife lovers can also look forward to a new cafe, an entertainment and pool area, covered cooking areas and a mountain bike track. And, there'll be facilities for school camps, too.
Expect all of the above to be put to frequent use, with Australia Zoo anticipating that Camp Crocodile Hunter will attract more than 39,000 visitors each year. Increasing both tourism and zoo patronage is clear aim of the $8 million project, which has received Queensland Government support alongside Australia Zoo's own funding.
Just what else the "luxury bush camp experiences" will entail hasn't been revealed, but for folks keen to extend their trip to the famed zoo across at least two days — and avoid having to trek offsite to stay the night — that's obviously on the agenda. From the crocoseum and croc school, to the onsite wildlife hospital, to a lineup of animals that spans tigers, cheetahs, giraffes, lemurs, meerkats, otters, rhinos, kangaroos, koalas, emus, crocodiles and more, there's definitely plenty to see.
Camp Crocodile Hunter was first announced back in April, but construction started just this month, after the completion of planning work for all of the campground essentials — aka electricity, water and public amenities.
Australia Zoo's Camp Crocodile Hunter is slated to open in 2020. For further information, visit the venue's website.
Top image: Andy Mitchell via Wikicommons.